Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11tv Maintenance RT April 17, 2013 12:00am-6:00am EDT
1:59 am
thank you battling for supremacy venezuela's new president elects nicolas maduro and his opposition rival out course in a deadlock of mutual accusations as post-election violence leaves at least seven
2:00 am
dad. no claims of responsibility for the boston bombing atrocity as investigators a race to unravel the once time a time can be watched since nine eleven which came despite years of heightened security. and the go. military reveals two detainees at guantanamo bay recently tried to kill themselves in protest at indefinite detention would be months hunger strike at the facility now in the middle of it in months. of news from russia and around the world this is aussie with me. hello and welcome to the program a coup in the making that's what venezuela's new elected president nicolas maduro
2:01 am
has claimed he says his goal prove his rival is planning to bring games down to bring him down just a couple of days after his victory and it's all being orchestrated by the u.s. meanwhile at least seven people have been killed following sunday's presidential elections that split the population almost clean down the middle so prompting large scale demonstrations to see reports now from the venezuelan capital. this is the sound of a very defiant as they should post-election venezuela what you can hear in our power that comes from supporters of in the wake of the opposition here are just supporters to stay at home and this makes this the sign of their protest because model t. a president who was won by a very narrow margin had urged fireworks around the city from his supporters to capture this a clunking box impact model had also banned protests in the center in downtown
2:02 am
krakow he said for security reasons now we don't see that after the elections here and if it is where the nation displeased to find it almost split into two now the support for model is just about fifty percent and he is facing a very tough battle as the president has accused the supreme the scalp of the violence that has occurred the government say that already seven people have died from this post-election violence subpoena saying that it was not us coward who was behind this number that has also said that everything the opposition is doing is written by the united states he says what the premise is pointing out all the evidence of the election fraud he said there were five hundred thirty five voting. machines that were damaged and so the two sides literally fighting off. the fight here is that israel is really not has clearly not ended after the presidential election and as far as my goodness the search for the first degree has to do is
2:03 am
unite i fear we defied a nation and of course one of the biggest challenges is still it will coach obvious issues his predecessor it will be very hard for him to move forward fixing the problems of the country making sure the government the military is behind it and of course the population. and some analysis when i joined by mark mason he's a political analyst for u.s. domestic and foreign policy says mr mason a very welcome to the program nice to see you so once again. claim and counter-claim about the fairness of the result this isn't exactly going to lay. for a smooth future is it. some elections are close and some are not this one is close and the. system in venezuela has been characterized by a number of independent. organizations and individuals such as. former president carter who examined recent elections there and it's been considered to be very
2:04 am
severe and among one of the highest turnouts anywhere with an eighty percent or more turnout so the election itself it is relatively stare and so we have a close election and we have a close election that's going to decide really a very important concern we all know what it is it's the three letter word or oil the stake is who's going to control future of venezuelan oil opec controls big percent of the reserves of the world oil reserves saudi arabia and. venezuela both account for about one half of the opec reserves and so we've already seen the united states in they need iraq in in an effort to control the oil reserves in iraq and the oil reserves in venezuela are far. a much greater priority probably bet's why my dear a thing his rivals is plotting
2:05 am
a career orchestrated by the u.s. and this is just a blatant attempts to sway in favor in his direction of the such a narrow victory and it there's no question that the u.s. has had a stake and pumping millions of dollars into opposition groups in venezuela we have documentation from wiki leaks that the u.s. state department has called the former president chavez the enemy and talked about the importance of dividing it should be small and other portions of us standing up for u.s. business concerns in south america the us. diplomatically they supported we know concretely that they supported the twenty four hour crude game shot is in two thousand and two obama provided diplomatic support for the honduras true in two thousand and nine so this is an area of the planet what franek work for the planet
2:06 am
isn't interested and what part of the planet doesn't have an interest from the oval office from the white house and we all remember the late hugo chavez was the most vocal u.s. critic in the region and well my dear and continue in his footsteps that's going to be determined we have to watch this in the coming hours if not weeks whether or not a. crew will be it happened in two thousand and two the twenty four hour crew so there is the possibility will it going to have to see the degree to which the military has gotten the or not gotten the go ahead from obama there's no question that during the two thousand and two to the twenty famous twenty four hour coup that the united states gave direct diplomatic support to the two perpetrators in venezuela so it's highly likely receiving millions of dollars pouring in to the venezuelan opposition from any deed a national endowment for democracy u.s.a.
2:07 am
id millions of dollars to subvert democracy in venezuela and that interest will be played out in the coming hours. that as you say surely washington has been trying to push its agenda in the region but does it have to offer. again the oil reserves in venezuela or z. great price far greater importance much larger than that or even of saudi arabia it was even recently up until recent years that saudi arabia was thought to have the largest single oil reserves on the planet but they're in venezuela and that's the big prize the u.s. is the global head tomorrow and it's the gold bully but it's a desperate and desperate situation right now it's been during the past fifteen years losing its grip its grip on certain south america. almost all the countries
2:08 am
in south america except for colombia are now taking an independent track they've been kicking u.s. military bases out of their countries such as in ecuador and you have a sort of a desperate dying collapsing empire united states that sees this great price and this is there's no question it's been spending money and a diplomatic relations behind the scenes to try to control the political situation in venezuela so they don't go washington continues to support the prints and refuse to recognize the result the longer this crisis will continue just how fine is washington prepared to start with. i would like to say how far then israel and people going to step out into the streets they came regardless of the money that the us pours in to subvert democracy in venezuela despite any diplomatic support that may be providing the future of venezuela we'll be decided by the venezuelan
2:09 am
people they came out by in great droops during two thousand and two just a short shot is they defeated the attempt to tempt in two thousand and two and the future of venezuela will not be decided in washington it will be decided on the streets of venezuela by venezuelans. right mark mason from the university of california thank you very much indeed for sharing in. the twin bombings that killed three and injured more than one hundred seventeen boston were reportedly homemade and designed so main as many people as possible officials say there are still no suspects and what if there was a terror attack in the u.s. if nine eleven they tried to take take place at a major public event despite years of top multibillion dollar security matters is a necessity isn't constant with all. the picture perfect city of boston brings back
2:10 am
memories and fears that americans have not dealt with since september eleventh. at the finishing line of the boston marathon two bombs explode seconds apart from each other killing at least three people including an eight year old boy and a twenty nine year old young woman and leaving at least a hundred and seventy five people injured over a dozen of them currently in critical condition witnesses described what they saw as horrifying some people saw body parts being ripped off others blood all over the sidewalks while some people rushed to help victims others ran away from the scene and chaos doctors currently treating patients in local hospital say they've experienced one of the most traumatizing events of their careers it really hasn't hit me yet. like i had couldn't sleep last night i'm constantly like anxious and nervous and i can't focus on my studies because i'm a graduate student
2:11 am
a block from where it happens like wow that like it really hits you the investigation is yet to determine whether the attack was carried out domestically or by a foreigner and whether or not individuals were behind this and even though officials say there was no longer an immediate threat security has been beefed up here in boston and throughout the united states the obama administration has already referred to what happened as a terror act but exactly what kind of consequences this will have for america's foreign and domestic policy remains to be seen a media frenzy surrounding the bombings the united states has not seen a similar act in years officials are saying the investigation is still very fluid but the majority of questions yet to be answered who and why was behind the attack and how secure really is the united states of today over the last decade the u.s. has pumped enormous resources into security and steps often criticized for breaching the rights of u.s. citizens and foreigners alike but what are the results and have all these efforts
2:12 am
created anything. more than an illusion of safety because they see churkin i r t boston massachusetts. and antiwar activists brian baca says the u.s. has adopted a militarized approach to security which has now failed today but what counts most on the home front since september eleventh the united states government has sent spent hundreds of billions of dollars for government security agencies right now i'm sure as happened after september eleventh private security companies are salivating over the new contracts that are are soon to come of course there is a business there there's a there's profits and even mega profits made by this kind of security apparatus but you can see in the case of boston they don't have any leads right now there was no indication that such an attack was coming so is it possible by the by by using military methods and security methods alone to stop terrorist attacks to protect society i don't think so we can see though that the u.s.
2:13 am
policy at home and abroad as well is almost exclusively based on. towards security towards militarization towards the abrogation of civil rights and civil liberties which i think ultimately don't defend protect and make people more secure. than they had been on t. one of russia's top opposition oxidative finds himself in the dock anticorruption blog i think the bali could get up to ten days behind bars for allegedly embezzling hundreds of fountains of donors from a state run in a case he says is meant to silence him long after this very short break. well. it's technology innovation all the developments from around russia we've got the future covered.
2:15 am
this is all she welcome back i mean don't go in mass hunger strike a gun tunnel obey u.s. military officials have disclosed to rescind suicide attempts by protesting detainees they also defended a pretty prison guard raid on cells over the weekend which resulted in violent clashes with several inmates and earlier my colleague bill told spoke with moslem bag who was released from guantanamo without charge after two years and he doesn't believe a bomb was prepared to debone his pledge to close the facility. there has to be a will and i don't think that the will exists certainly have still got people in guantanamo eleven years since the invasion of afghanistan and there's no practical will to send these individuals to places where they're supposed to have a basic normal life and i don't know where the will is going to come the troops withdrawn when still problems that were instituted at the time of bush have not been cleared at the time of. if you were in there now in guantanamo would you go on
2:16 am
hunger strike absolutely absolutely there's no doubt about it in my mind because the hunger strike is a. is an action of desperation they had an old very well in one tunnel that the only way you can get your rights is by taking extreme measures and of course the hunger strike of some something that's been going on and off for the past eleven years this time around i think the numbers that i heard from the lawyers and so forth is it's close to three quarters of the prisoners that are there because they've been there for such a long time almost none of them have been charged with any any recognizable crime and had they been convicted of a crime of terrorism they would have surface sentences by now most of them and i think that's what the the prisoners that are protesting about the process about the conditions they're protesting about the water and are over the water that used to come from the taps at the time when i was there it used to be yellow and undrinkable and not much has changed in that regard because the abuse says that the
2:17 am
religious abuses are still taking place the prisons are still complaining about those things through the lawyers and even one of them has just recently written something through his lawyer in the in one the american papers and when he talks about that you people are slowly killing us without establishing any evidence against us at all. on this comes as an independent american think tank or nice as a reporter kings and top u.s. officials of being responsible for torture have gone time of day under the chains on giants who helped compile the report says my detainees at the facility and completely lost. you have the majority of these prisoners for whom our government has said there's no reason to hold them anymore we don't want them they're not there they're not accused of anything and yet they have not taken the actions that are necessary to remove these these prisoners from guantanamo and send them back to their home countries or to
2:18 am
a neutral country where they will not be tortured force feeding under the circumstances we've found is tantamount to torture what is inhumane is a treatment for some prisoners in solitary confinement for many many hours at a time sometimes many days the separation from other prisoners so that you don't have that social contact that's that is a form of torture that should be stopped i think the biggest torture however for the majority of the prisoners at guantanamo is the lack of hope the fact that they thought that after they were judged. by our government as not necessary not terrorist not needed for information that they should be released and now their concern in many of these that are on the starvation diet many of these i understand just last hope they think they'll never be able to leave guantanamo and that's the
2:19 am
reason for their action. find out how they've gone ton of the hunger strike has been unfolding on our website we've been following it since it became public hearing from former detainees. and i expose as well as showing videos from the facility as called. also that belgian bullies have no stone unturned in the city of and searching for the man who was said to be directly recruiting volunteers to join terrorist groups in syria. russia joined the international simulated moscow and i'd say should project in america's midwest go to auntie dot com to learn about the out of this world experience. speak your language. programs and documentaries in arabic it's all here almost all to reporting from the world talks about six of the c.o.r.p. interviews intriguing story to tell you. that troy.
2:20 am
visit or a big. dog called. accordion central russia has postponed for a week a trial of top opposition activists unexplainably is charged with stating over five hundred thousand dollars worth of timber from a state one company he advised back in two thousand and nine however i know of ali who is a fervent anti corruption blogger in says the case against him is politically motivated and more now with the group is going off ways at the court and care of you go very nice to see you good morning so all that buildup and then nothing what happened. well the court hearing ended just around one hour after starting the next enough while his defense appealed to the judge to reschedule saying they didn't have enough time to properly get ready and the judge agreed to reschedule for next week
2:21 am
so i. exited the courthouse behind the surrounded by a crowd of journalists and supporters in fact we were told that some people have to count ballots here throughout the night in front of the courthouse to get in since the room inside fits only around sixty people and there's a very heavy media presence and lots of supporters here as well earlier we saw two separate rallies taking place right across the street from one of the other one well the insupportable you see no way and the other one i guess them but both were conducted quite peacefully. and wise figure of alex a nobody man these cases during sun much attention we've got. is a well known and controversial figure in russia first of all he's an opposition blogger who meet his name by conducting his online anti corruption project he's also a fierce critic of the kremlin and one of the most influential opposition activists and leaders especially during last year's we asked protest but the controversial
2:22 am
side is that it says you know while he's open connection to russian nationalists now about this particular case the afterwards are accusing. you know wiley also organizing a criminal scheme to steal around a half a million dollars' worth of timber from a state company this was back in two thousand and nine when he was the aid to the local governor here in cuba but his supporters claim that this piece is will be political. cheesy golf is going off reporting there live from cairo igor thank you very much. now to some other news around the world this hour security is on high alert in london where the funeral of former prime minister margaret thatcher will be held later this morning moment thousand guests from around the world will attend the ceremony which is being held with full military honors which one's first and only female prime minister died last week and they just eighty
2:23 am
seven of forming a stroke and she will be most remembered for his strict and uncompromising policies on helping to end the cold war. thirty four people have been killed and dozens injured in pakistan following a seven point five magnitude earthquake centered on the country's border with iran the tremors and aftershocks were felt around the persian gulf state just over a week ago another earthquake hit southern iran leaving thirty seven people dead. the economic turbulence that's been hitting eurozone countries in the past months has also taken its toll on the blocks wealthiest state germany with dark clouds gathering over its economic outlook and a growing number of germans believe the nation should abandon the euro ship which many believe is as doomed as the titanic was his piece on our reports. following the shambles in cyprus the euros had a tough time of late from doing some politicians in germany to say enough is enough
2:24 am
. years and in a moment we're in a phase where the euro has become a burden germany has too much responsibility and it's getting heavy we need to. exit strategy while it's still possible otherwise we could find ourselves in serious economic trouble. critics of the single currency point to a culture of bailouts which they believe will leave the eurozone towards self-destruction after all this states portugal spain greece cyprus ireland don't forget it what they did so what is the next and the next is already at the or right front and if this happens italy and france then we don't have to discuss any kind of bail or whatever then the euro is finally to exit so some german politicians are suggesting that the euro is done and dusted however those in the banking sector say it's still got plenty of fight left in it yet certainly
2:25 am
we've seen some blows in the course of the past year or originated from several countries but generally my sense is that the pessimism on the prospects of the euro the future of the euro has subsided a bit i think there is a bit more confidence that europe can regain its strength despite confidence among the banks there is real concern in germany that the longer it props up failing parts of the eurozone the more it puts itself at risk the financial ruin peter all of a business r.t. . and up next our reporter they need gold washing colombia that's just a couple of minutes.
2:26 am
the for. the. victims multiply here each day. it's very profitable to invest in colombia when the very profit out of them is a very high return on investment. which is good though i mean he has said that i've been working in this area for thirty years and i've always had to pay the armed groups that when they come by me to buy this i knew that my managers have changed
2:27 am
their name and strategy about it and just tell the same of murderers. high ranking suspects you know comment pretty upset on that mr president go soon. to president putin. but the media. i won't give an interview i'm sorry but no. investigation is a dead. end up and says i'm sick and can't stop your bullshit and keep quiet or else you'll suffer the consequences. even if they're your bodyguards to watch themselves because the same goes for them. blood rivers from gold synch i've never heard of such a case as ours where so much money and gold has been stolen for so many years. for all the gold in colombia on our t.v. .
2:29 am
sigel via in northern colombia. beneath these rusty sheds the country's richest gold mine it's operated by comedian multinational corporation gran colombia gold. today the army has taken over the sector for a high risk mission. transporting the week's production to a safe location. three gold ingots over twenty kilos each.
2:30 am
here we have sixty eight kilos. that makes one point two million euro. in colombia gold is highly coveted by the criminal organizations. so in order to avoid an ambush the time and day of the transfer or decided at the last minute made my escape the this is the most critical moment and on this side and the gold leaves the factory it up got to be transported to the city of midianites. the ingots are carried away at a run. the soldiers mark out the course. the operation is completed in four minutes. the precious cargo takes off towards maybe
2:31 am
the regional capital from where the gold will be exported. this ago via gold mines are the oldest ones in south america they were owned for a long time by an english company frontino gold mines but in two thousand and ten and gran colombia gold bought the entire concession. thanks to different teano mines the canada based multinational has become colombia's leading gold producer in two thousand and eleven. two and a half tons of yellow metal came out of these furnaces the checks are very strict everyone has body searched including the boss just things a lot. cna my friend the vice president of gone colombia moreover has a predestined name who is a over zero zero zero being the spanish word for gold. thanks a lot see you later my friend. who's a or always cuban the late the former comrades or fidel castro he made the transition from marxism to capitalism with the greatest
2:32 am
of ease. for him colombia is the new eldorado. it's very profitable to invest in colombia with the very profitable. very high return on investment and a large reserves of natural resources to exploit that all human and what's more easy resources they want a place that you know the country is behold the fruit on the lower branches of the tree has been eaten and the any fruit left is at the top. whereas here there's still a lot of fruit left to pick up. but for the time being grown colombia is obliged to share its fruit while it officially wholly owns the enormous ago via deposit illegal mines have sprung up like mushrooms all over its concession. rafael to bone he's a manager oath and a legal mind that has developed into a small company he and his partners were employed by the former company frontino
2:33 am
gold mines bought out by grown colombia they've set up their activity here without authorization. and i guess i'm sad though right i couldn't understand it but it everyone works on the front you know and i would say well x. frontino not only they forced us into doing this because they fired us and they threw us out and not only got an hour or so we came to find work here. under the virgin mary's protection the miners descend three hundred meters below ground. at the mine bottom air is in short supply. so is the water good. better than my wife. smiles on their faces but on their backs loads weighing eighty kilos. six eight ten cents per day. for most slave labor that can be fatal due to cave ins and yet there's no shortage
2:34 am
of miners wanting to work here some of them can earn up to two thousand euros a month four times the average salary in colombia. meter after meter the column moves forward gold is embedded everywhere in the rock. miles and miles of these galleries eat away a growing columbia's concession. it seems that there's money. that. way all this belongs to the people not to the company. so that you know how we break it all back to our pesos. such suffering be illegal that isn't even. inside as on the outside it's the same anger because grown colombia is requesting that these illegal mines be closed down and. it's not right for the roadway with the new countries the doors there you know they come with new
2:35 am
technologies to steal the riches of the colombian. yes just do it's ours. as that lady says they come to steal what's ours because all of this is ours. this is how we make our living from salvaging rocks. if the illegal mines close down everyone will lose their livelihood the miners but also thousands of women who sort through the rock debris where bits of gold can still be found. it was twenty four years old and i've been working at the mine for ten years now imagine if they close down the mine what we do. will be forced to leave to go you know will we go this is where the money is. the. fifty or so illegal mines such as they'll cho-cho are existing on borrowed time and it's a go over your area. and as the price of the yellow metal continues to soar
2:36 am
on world markets so gold he is experiencing a new lease on life people are coming out here from all over the country to seek their fortunes. a modern day gold rush in the heart of war played colombia. from the old children mine bianca carries bags of rocks to these antiquated mills. the rock is ground up for hours. to obstruct the gold particles a dangerous product is used mercury. this gray paste is obtained which contains the gold. we should wear long gloves and even mask that nobody uses any form of protection and even just ignores the danger. and that's that when
2:37 am
people get older around here their hands such tremble. nervous disorders memory loss you thinks of mercury or devastating in the air in the water inside go via mercury is omnipresent it's one of the most contaminated zones in the world. these small scale miners sell their gold. to merchants gold is exchanged for large wads of notes. so here everyone protects their business. this is to protect myself from thieves have already been held up twice. the mercury evaporates and the heat of the blow torches leaving behind the yellow metal which will be melted down into ingots this is how the gold from the illegal
2:38 am
mines provides a livelihood force the gobi is fifty thousand inhabitants. a parallel economy that has a oro had of gone colombia wants to eradicate completely. little by little we're going to regain control we have to do away with all of this but at the same time we have to give the people work opportunities. for his safety jose or all right around in an armored four by four he wants to show us that he's perfectly at ease and to go via that he's at home here everywhere even at the barbershop. someone wants to say hello does that mean my out of the major ally you visit let me introduce you to some french journalists a major is the chief of the city police is a very good friend of ours. we have a contract with the police a contract with the army
2:39 am
a contract with the city hall. that we also have a school that we find that. the company finances the police and the army which in exchange ensures that security but the company also uses its dollars to win over the inhabitants its latest project a local radio station. as i do most of who we've been the victim of a very strong demonization campaign you know we think that's a bit of the radio. we're going to be able to change all that. but they have a good those the sea legs so if anyone wants to try to compete with this sort of influencing the population and i'm sorry but a level they're going to lose. a lot of the. while waiting to impose its power through the radio the multinational begins by imposing it through force. is. just
2:40 am
a look at it we've been ordered to close down these lines. and for that one but it's out we can count on the support of the employees of ground colombia which owns the mining rights in this region to try to wrestle. the company lends them its premises and is present during the whole operation. first target an illegal tunnel on the outskirts of town. weapons in hand the policeman besieged the mine the situation soon gets heated. up and i'm asking you the question do you have a mining permit. no one has a permit i applied for one but they never gave it to me. yeah souls were going to start standing up that's how it is that all of you wanted us to want to work so we're going to steal and kill or we'll start drug trafficking. and.
2:41 am
i think the only civilian amongst the policeman an engineer from dong colombia guides the troops now a list of the mines to be closed down is displayed on his mobile phone screen. to get him up if you want to take advantage of daylight we should continue on right away. ok let's go let's go now meaning. but the operation is cut short the policeman fear a clash with the miners they content. cells with carting away a dozen or so of them back to the police station the police also seize the dynamite used to blast the tunnels. a minor protests he was in the middle of negotiations with kong columbia to legalize his mining operation i mean let us thank you not as proof he holds out a business card in the name of who is a thorough the head of the multinational into go via.
2:42 am
wealthy british. market. can. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cause or for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to kaiser report on our. mission free credit take action free transport charges free to arrangements three risk free studio time free. old free broadcast quality video for
2:43 am
your media projects free medio dot r.t. dot com. a clear image of iraq after a facial. twenty day taxi trip through the country. the road full of dangerous. clear evidence from north to south. the roots of iraqi tragedy. after the war waiting for peace. talks e t.
2:44 am
the international airport in the very heart of moscow. and it. it appears that jose oro is far from having one overseer go via. today made the first the employees are gone colombia are out in the street they're demanding wage increases. small scale miners and local inhabitants are demonstrating alongside them. amidst the crowd one man personifies the revolt of the entire town. now. what. do you know ruach is president of the gobi a mine workers union today he's the multinationals leading adversary he contest the
2:45 am
company's right to operate this a go via mines which up until two thousand and ten belong to different you know company he speaks of theft when i gotta say i mean other by giving the mines of the front you know gold mines company to a multinational they have violated all rights but the people they stole the patrimony that belong soley to the workers to the retired workers and to all the people of say gold the out. a speech that he repeats cecily in front of the microphones and film cameras. rising is that then what do we demand is the most and we demand that once and for all they give us back the funky no mind street. does their hours. it would seem that the mines belong to the employees to prove it. takes us to his office he wants to show us a document that he keeps preciously a notarized act dating back to one nine hundred seventy nine.
2:46 am
at that time frontino was in dire financial straits and it's english and american owners wanted to leave colombia but they owed years of unpaid wages to their employees so from their head office in new york they decided to bequeath the company and all its mines to them it's all there in black and white. mayor don't document this by way of this document signed in the presence of a notary in new york. it's now known as the new york act. yes there it is woman is through this that the donation was made to the workers say by way of payment. the new york act orders the managers or from tino to transfer all the property to the workers and retired workers or to their unions it was authentic aided by the colombian consulate in one thousand nine hundred nine the document was then handed over to the government which was responsible for announcing the good news to the miners get us there what happened then. then ben says trade ministry and minister
2:47 am
did that all employment ministry at the time and the columbia consulate in new york kept this document secret. see. for twenty years the workers were unaware that frontino had decreed them the mines the company was run by local managers who got richer and richer wagon after wagon. but in two thousand while searching through the archives of the ministry of economy by pure chance a trade unionist and earth's the new york act from then on the workers are going to do everything in their power to recover frontino. but they have a dangerous man to contend with a certain carlos mario humanise alias macaco the macaque at the head of a paramilitary group of five thousand men he controls the entire region from the cocaine trafficking to the gold production activities. macaco is at that time one
2:48 am
of the unofficial owners of the frontino minds he operates them illegally by way of frontman. is that i find all our gold behind all our riches are the economic interests of armed groups like the paramilitaries. paramilitary groups such as macaco as were organized by rich landowners to control the marxist guerrilla group the fox. they terrorized the country for twenty years. often with the backing of the regular army. it since ago via moreover where they perpetrate one of their first massacres in one nine hundred eighty eight forty three people are killed in the town center their favorite targets the trade unionists and leftist political activists. since that time the trade union leaders such as the euro ruah received death threats on
2:49 am
a regular basis for their protection bodyguards permanently accompany them wherever they go. in the early two thousand the trade unionists come up against the paramilitary leader macaco is hold over the sea go via mines. they see their frontino heritage escape them little by little this territory rich in gold. so they take their case to court and the court rules in their favor. over those go a court and they did mean a court that deals with matters relating to labor disputes rendered its decision at the end of two thousand and six and recognize that the minds of the front two new gold mines company belong exclusively to the workers and retired workers and that was the loudest in the space of that city and in two thousand and seven the supreme court of justice confirmed that decision. but strangely enough it's the colombian
2:50 am
government that opposes frontino being given to the workers it appeals and manages to overturn all the decisions in favor of the trade unionists and the government at the time is led by president. he becomes personally involved in the case of the frontier no company is overindebted he places it under direct control of the state . to see him down. ghaith day the president. it was from this region was very preoccupied and. nationality he had managed to resolve the major problems of the country but not those of his own regions. was and this was like a thorn in his side for him it's been and for all. of our a rebate has to deal with macaco the local paramilitary leader he names a commission of four experts to advise him on frontino his future according to our
2:51 am
investigation three of them have ties with macaco one of them is even his financial advisor role in day i'm indian businessman so here's a man who at the same time advises both a colombian president and a mafia leader as these documents from the chamber of commerce prove at the time the lindy runs at least two of macaco companies they serve as fronts for laundering money from cocaine trafficking. we make an unannounced visit to these mini offices equipped with a hidden camera linda has never been bothered by the legal authorities he wishes to remain discreet. but. i won't give an interview i'm sorry but no. person to feel important because of the country's political situation you know work and now that president or e bay is no longer in power. all those who helped are now being persecuted
2:52 am
politically want to. go to a few and we were simply a team of advisors. but the private sector advisors. and we guided the president in his decisions here. that are so good but you pneumococcal personally. if he was one of my a longstanding customers if the boat tires from. lindy won't tell us anything more he denies this collude. between the mafia and the government which prevents the unionists from recovering frontino that in two thousand and eight president a rebate is going to become sole game master he manages to eliminate macaco and washington's request he extradite him to the united states together with the other main paramilitary leaders all accused of drug trafficking macaco is sentenced in florida to thirty three years imprisonment but there's still no question of handing
2:53 am
over the mines to the workers the rebate looks for a more powerful investor. trentino his fate is sealed in two thousand and ten the government sells the company to a newly set up canada based multinational corporation grant colombia gold in suburbia workers and trade unionists give vent to their anger. in some us and we believe and are almost sure of it that the president already made it as a financial interests in this matter because what he wants in fact is to take our minds into. the unionist accuses of our rebate he can't prove that the ex-president has direct interests in the new company but strangely enough the main winners in this matter or people closely connected to of our own rebate. at the side of the foreign investors at the head of growing colombia we find mario pacheco his first campaign manager. martinez his minister of mines and more importantly occupying the
2:54 am
post of chairman and managing director maria consuelo x. minister of culture and a close friend of the president delighted to celebrate in two thousand and eleven the company's entry into the toronto stock market as the role moved such an act of theft is totally unprecedented. you know not only in colombia but in the world. i've never heard of such a case as ours where so much money in gold has been stolen for so many years. for the managers of the multinational the treed unionists claims are without foundation . many people thought that they would obtain this mine defacto. through violence and usurpation. but i think that the colombian government made the right choice and that they needed a company that had the technical capacity and experience to operate the miners i mean if you know and if we didn't have any enemies unionists or others i mean i
2:55 am
would be very worried. that would mean that our minds aren't worth much to me and. how do you explain the death rates received by the trade unionists not you know no the contrary would be strange you know of year there's nothing unusual about someone receiving a threat. how often have we received threats some people have offered millions were done jose said. i mean if someone receives it right here it's. we don't threaten anyone. the sailor from tino to grand columbia was concluded four months before the end of all borrow rebase mandate. as a fighter for the people. who have strived for a safer more prosperous and more just country the former president left power in two thousand and ten he tours around the country to defend his track record long
2:56 am
left colombia. still very popular he loves to mingle with the crowd but hates interviews we made several attempts to question him about from tino in vain we made another attempt during a political meeting in the burger tar region the us and she go via the workers' union a frontino claim that the company belongs to them and that your government sold it to your friends or you have to say about that mr president as soon. as the president didn't say. no answer but his campaign smile has disappeared we want to give us his version of the facts as for the trade unionists us to go via they continue their combat before the law courts they asked me colombian government for sixteen billion euros in compensation the value of the gold struck it from their minds over these past thirty years.
2:57 am
you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything is ok. i'm tough hard welcome to the big picture. live.
2:59 am
the international abdul's in the very heart of moscow. bottling for supremacy but as well as new president elect nicolas maduro and his opposition rival at court and said local mutual accusations as post-election
3:00 am
violence leaves at least seven dead. no claims of responsibility for the boston bombing atrocity as investigators race to unravel the was terror attack in the us since nine eleven which came pain despite years of heightened security actual say. on the u.s. military reveals two detainees at guantanamo bay recently tried to kill themselves in protest as indefinite detention would. mass hunger strike at the facility now in the middle of its third month. international news and comment line from moscow this is a see with me you are all over thanks for joining it's a coup in the making that's what venezuela's new elected president nicolas maduro
3:01 am
has claimed he says he's got proof his rival is planning to break him down just a couple of days after his victory and it's all being orchestrated by the u.s. meanwhile at least seven people have been killed following sunday's presidential elections that split the population almost clean down the middle printing large scale demonstrations there are reports now from the venezuelan capital. this is the sound of a ferry to find a station post-election venezuela where you can hear in our profit hands flying from supporters of in the wreckage the prius to the opposition to supporters to stay at home and this make this the sign of their protest because motherhood of fear president who won by a very narrow margin had urged fireworks around the city from his supporters to capture this a clunking of pops impact model had also banned protests in the center in downtown caracas he said for security reasons now we know we see that after the elections
3:02 am
here and it is well the nation is clearly divided almost flipped it to two now the support for model is just about fifty percent and he is facing a very tough battle as the president has accused the printer scour of the violence that has occurred the government say that already seven people had died from this post-election violence subpoena saying that it was not us coward who was behind this number that has also said that everything the opposition is doing is directed by the united states he says what the prius is pointing out all the evidence of the election fraud he said there were five hundred thirty five voting. machines that were damaged and so the two sides clearly fighting off the the the fight here is that israel is fully not has to not entered after the presidential election and as far as my goodness the surge the first thing you have to do is tonight
3:03 am
a very divided nation and of course one of the biggest challenges is still it will coach obvious issues his predecessor it will be very hard for him to move forward fixing the problems of the country make it show the government the military is behind it and of course the population. and i spoke to mark mason a political analyst for you as domestic and foreign policy is about well to stay can they all go. crisis that we have a close election that's going to decide really a very important concern we all know what it is sixty three letter word or oil the stake is who's going to control the future of venezuelan oil there's no question that the u.s. has had a stake and pumping millions of dollars into opposition groups in venezuela we have documentation from wiki leaks that the u.s. state department has called the former president chavez the enemy and talked about the importance of dividing it should these and other portions of us standing up for
3:04 am
u.s. business concerns in the south america and as you say only washington has been trying to push its agenda in the region but does it have to offer. again the oil reserves in venezuela or xeni great price far greater importance much be larger than that or even of saudi arabia it was even recently up until recent years that saudi arabia was thought to have the largest single oil reserves on the planet but they're in venezuela and that's the big prize the u.s. is the global head tomorrow it's the gold bully but it's a desperate and desperate situation right now it's been during the past fifteen years losing its grip its reponse in south america. almost all the countries in south america except for colombia are now taking an independent track they've been
3:05 am
key. military bases out of their countries such as in ecuador and you have a sort of a desperate dying and collapsing empire the united states sees this great price in it and there's no question that it's been spending money and the diplomatic relations behind the scenes to try to control the political situation in venezuela so they don't know washington continues to support the prince and refuse to recognize the result the longer this crisis will continue just how fine is washington prepared to start with this. i would like to say how far are the venezuelan people going to step out into the streets they came regardless of the money that the u.s. pours in to subvert democracy in venezuela despite any diplomatic support that may be providing the future venezuela we'll be decided by the venezuelan people came out by in great drew during two thousand and two to secure the shop is
3:06 am
they defeated the attempt to chant in two thousand and two and the did future of venezuela will not be decided in washington it will be decided on the streets of venezuela by venezuelans the two thousand bombs that killed three and injured more than one hundred seventeen both and were reportedly homemade and designed to maim as many people as possible officials say there are still no suspects and once they watched terror attack in the u.s. since nine eleven they tried to take took place at a major public about and despite years of tough multi-billion dollar security measures this is a trick and isn't both and with more for us. the picture perfect city of boston brings back memories and fears that americans have not dealt with since september eleventh. at
3:07 am
the finishing line of the boston marathon two bombs explode seconds apart from each other killing at least three people including an eight year old boy and a twenty nine year old young woman and leaving at least a hundred and seventy five people injured over a dozen of them currently in critical condition witnesses describe what they saw as horrifying some people saw body parts being ripped off others blood all over the sidewalks while some people rushed to help victims others ran away from the scene and chaos doctors currently treating patients in local hospital say they've experienced one of the most traumatizing events of their careers it really hasn't hit me yet. like i had i couldn't sleep last night i'm constantly like anxious nervous and i can't focus on my studies because i'm a graduate student a block from where it happens while that like it really hits the investigation is yet to determine whether the attack was carried out domestically or by a foreigner and whether or not individuals were behind this and even though
3:08 am
officials say there's no longer an immediate threat security has been beefed up here in boston and throughout the united states the obama administration has already referred to what happened as a terror act but exactly what kind of consequences this will have for america's foreign and domestic policy remains to be seen a media frenzy surrounding the bombings the united states has not seen a similar act in years officials are saying the investigation is still very fluid with the majority of questions yet to be answered who and why was behind the attack and how secure really is the united states of today over the last decade the u.s. has pumped enormous resources into security and steps often criticized for breaching the rights of u.s. citizens and foreigners alike but what are the results and have all these efforts created anything more than an illusion of safety and. boston massachusetts. and with brian back i says the u.s. has known adopted a miniaturized approach to security which has now failed today but where it counts
3:09 am
most on the home front since september eleventh the united states government has sent spent hundreds of billions of dollars for government security agencies right now i'm sure as happened after september eleventh private security companies are salivating over the new contracts that are are soon to come of course there is a business there there's there's profits and even mega profits made by this kind of security apparatus but you can see in the case of boston they don't have any leads right now there was no indication that such an attack was coming so is it possible by the by by using military methods and security methods alone to stop terrorist attacks to protect society i don't think so we can see though that the u.s. policy at home and abroad as well is almost exclusively based on. towards security towards militarization towards the abrogation of civil rights and
3:10 am
civil liberties which i think ultimately don't defend protect and make people more secure. so we had here on all c. one of russia's top opposition accidents the find himself in the dock on to corruption blogger alexei nobody could get up to ten years behind bars for allegedly and beverly hundreds of thousands of dollars from a state fund in a case he says is meant to silence him. plus a side of times i made the hunger strike a gone tanabe as an expert panel blames u.s. officials for torture and the notorious the senate all the details shortly. science technology innovation all the list of elements from around russia we've gone to huge earth covered.
3:12 am
international airport in the very heart of moscow. watching r.t. is great to have you with this welcome back i mean their own golfing mass hunger strike again time obey u.s. military officials have disclosed terrorists and suicide at times by protesting detainees they also defended a prison guard raid all cells over the weekend which resulted in violent clashes
3:13 am
with several inmates and earlier my colleague spoke with begg who was released from guantanamo without charge after two years and he doesn't believe obama's prepared to deliver on his pledge to close the facility there has to be a will and i don't think that the will exists certainly if you've still got people want tunnel eleven years since the invasion of afghanistan. and there's no practical will to send these individuals to places where they're supposed to have a basic normal life and i don't know where the will is going to come troops withdrawn when still problems that were instituted at the time of bush not being cleared at the time of guard if you were in there now in guantanamo would you go on hunger strike. absolutely absolutely there's no doubt about it in my mind because the hunger strike is a. is an action of desperation they had an old very well in guantanamo that the only way you can get your rights is by taking extreme measures and of course the
3:14 am
hunger strike of some something that's been going on and off for the past eleven years this time around i think the numbers that i heard from the lawyers and so forth is it's close to three quarters of the prisoners that are there because they've been there for such a long time almost none of them have been charged with any any recognizable crime and had been convicted of a crime of terrorism they would have served their sentences by now most of them and i think that's what the prisoners that are protesting about the process about the conditions they're protesting about the water and i remember the water that used to come from the taps at the time when i was there it used to be yellow and undrinkable and not much has changed in that regard because the abuse says that the religious abuses are still taking place the prisons are still complaining about those things through the lawyers and even one of them has just recently written something through his lawyer in the american papers and when he talks about that you people are slowly killing us without establishing any evidence against us at
3:15 am
all and they're scans as an independent and merica thing tank where he says a report accusing top u.s. officials of being responsible for torture had gone time to obey and battered chains are helped compile the report says lies detainees at the facility have completely lost. you have the majority of these prisoners for whom our government has said there's no reason to hold them anymore we don't want them they're not there they're not accused of anything and yet they have not taken the actions that are necessary to remove these these prisoners from guantanamo and send them back to their home countries or to a neutral country where they will not be tortured force feeding under the circumstances we found is tantamount to torture what is inhumane is a treatment for some prisoners in solitary confinement for many many hours at
3:16 am
a time sometimes many days the separation from other prisoners so that you don't have that social contact that that is a form of torture that should be stopped i think the biggest torture however for the majority of the prisoners in guantanamo is the lack of hope the fact that they thought that after they were judged. by our government as not necessary not terrorists not needed for information that they should be released and now their concern in many of these that are on the starvation diet many of these i understand just last hope they think they'll never be able to leave guantanamo and that's the reason for their action. find out how they gone tunnel hunger strike has been unfolding on our website we've been following it since it first became public hearing from former detainees. and acts as well as sharing videos from the facility
3:17 am
all that as. and also that please leave no stone unturned in the city of atlanta what center for the man who are said to be directly recruiting volunteers to join terrorist groups in syria. and russia joins the international simulated models. in america's midwest go to auntie dot com to learn about the out of this world experience. speak your language. programs and documentaries in arabic it's all here. to change the world talks to the yard p. interview intriguing story to tell you. troy. for me visit or a big. dog called. the roger go islamist movement is gaining ground in germany with immigrants attempting to apply their traditions and rules to
3:18 am
their new home because government however is trying to curb the spreading amount of extremist islamic sentiment piece owner of reports not. germany is cracking down on islamic extremism and the latest move three some of the asians were banned after it was deemed they wanted to implement sharia law in the heart of europe those behind making the band insist they're not anti islamic just up olding the law we have more than five million muslims living in germany and there's a lot of fruit for corporation and living together and i think that has to be safeguarded as well as germany's open society and we are able to integrate all people why where is religion or whatever but on the other hand if someone wants to stay in germany he has to fulfill the obligations to keep the laws to accept that we have special laws in fight against terrorism for example and who is keeping
3:19 am
these laws has no problems who is not keeping the laws has no right to stay in germany the decision to outlaw these groups coincided with police boiling an assassination attempt on one of radical islam's biggest critics far right party chief marcus by six not much as i and i underestimated the danger of the salafi supposing they were arrested very near my house this brings the situation into a whole new dimension my life has changed now i cannot walk without police protection not even shopping i'm picked up from home dropped off at work we're driving in a bulletproof car this is very difficult to have such a lifestyle just because you engage in politics and so on. in all four people were arrested with bomb making equipment and loaded weapons found in their possession by six critics say he brought this on himself his party incensed members of germany's islamic community last year after tearing down the tory is mohammed cartoons around
3:20 am
german cities symbols that are deeply offensive to muslims. this is fascination attempt shows that now they want us to shut up with the use of violence in their eyes islamic extremism should not be allowed to be questioned and if you do you end up on a death list it's dangerous a scary development salafism is one of germany's fastest growing islamic sects tracting both muslims and calling virtues official figures show their numbers are growing by the thousand every year those who fear what they see as the as law of the cation of germany believe the country's previous experience with extremism leaves it unwilling to see the risks of probably a bit odd because their child the problem is that germany's always afraid of the danger from the right because of our past we're very sensitive about that as we should be but the danger of islamification is totally underestimated we will not capitulate we will not stop we will not abandon our path is the banning of groups
3:21 am
with links to extremism is the way security services are looking to tackle potentially violent organizations however this leaves the question will it drive extremism underground perhaps making it more difficult to thought future attacks peter all over r.t. germany. a course in central russia has postponed for a wake a trial of top opposition activists and say now via me is charged with standing over five hundred thousand dollars worth of timber from a state one company had vised back in two thousand and nine however now violet who is a verb and a third and corruption blogger in says the case against him is politically motivated. can offer force or the court hearing ended just around one hour after starting defense appealed to the judge to reschedule saying they didn't have enough time to properly get ready and the judge agreed to reschedule for next week so i.
3:22 am
exited the courthouse behind the surrounded by a crowd of journalists and supporters in fact we're told that some people had to count ballots here throughout the night in front of the courthouse to get in since the room inside fits only around sixty people and there's a very heavy media presence and lots of supporters here as well earlier we saw two separate rallies taking place right across the street from one another one well in support. and the other one i guess but both were conducted quite peaceful and it's . a well known and controversial figure in russia first of all he's an opposition blogger who made his name by conducting his online anti corruption project he's also a fierce critic of the kremlin and one of the most influential opposition activists and leaders especially during last year we saw from mass protest but the controversial side. open connection to russian nationalists now about this
3:23 am
particular case the authorities are accusing. off organizing a criminal scheme to steal around a half a million dollars worth of timber from a state company this was back in two thousand and nine when he was the aide to the local governor here in cuba but his supporters claim that this case is purely political. and news just stand now. that song has been launched on israel's southern most tanabe launch their missiles were fired from egypt's volatile sinai region one of three rockets reportedly exploded outside a residential area however there have been no immediate reports of casualties so far the city was placed on high alert after reports of an al qaeda cell based in sinai preparing a multiple at taco bell and of course we'll bring you moody's howell's as we get them. and let's not have some other news stories from around the wall this hour. security is on high alert in london where the funeral of film upon minister margaret thatcher will be held later this morning for the full and offices have
3:24 am
been dropped today the ceremonies being housed with full military honors and more than two thousand get around the world will attend britain's fast and only female prime minister in dublin last week at the age of eighty seven following a stroke which will be most remembered for a strict and uncompromising policies and helping to end the cold war. especially four people have been killed and dozens injured in pakistan following a seven point five magnitude earthquake centered on the country's border with iran the traumas and aftershocks was felt in the persian gulf states just about a week ago another hit southern iran leaving such a seven people dead. and coming up shortly is our special report about the new gold rush in colombia.
3:25 am
good leverage or mccurry was able to build on each most sophisticated robot which on fortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tunes mission to teach music creation and why it should care about humans and. this is why you should watch only.
3:26 am
the america international airport in the very heart of moscow. for the past ten years colombia has welcomed foreign capital with open arms in his turn the new president juan manuel santos places mining at the center of his development model in bogota the independent expert coolio hero denounces an incestuous relationship between the multinationals and the colombian political class. no i thought about it it isn't just an impression it's a reality that there exists
3:27 am
a very strong link between these companies and the political elite that we have look at they serve the interests of the big multinationals that marked in red on the map of the country the land requested for mining concessions of vast area the multinationals bag the major part of the mining rights about seventy percent of the andes is tenure and all covered by requests from mining concessions well you know if they when we see that it's easy to imagine that we're all going to find ourselves expropriated that's where we're going to grow the economy and people's food is going to get what's going to happen to our regions so that it's a completely irrational gamble that. the mining permits are already allocated but the big companies aren't yet mining the andes gold. the reserves largest. serbs lie in the heart of the corridor. mountains where the revolutionary armed forces of colombia the fark operate at war with the colombian
3:28 am
government for over fifty years no one can penetrate this region without their authorization with the help of divers go betweens we've established contact with the four guerrilla fighters they've authorized us to travel through their zone while waiting to receive us. the local economy is based on coca plant growing these small green leaves are the raw material of cocaine. after years of anti drug enforcement cocoa farming is going through a crisis more and more pickers are leaving the fields to work in the gold mines. we penetrate into the mining zone in the far controlled mountains we get there by mule a two day journey with a good guide. marie c.e.o. is the president of a local small scale miners association. with
3:29 am
it for all that used to be cocoa plantations. a government has eradicated all the coca in the region. each day dozens of mules amble up and down these paths loaded up with cans of cyanide like mercury it's used to extract the gold from the or. we're in the heart of a rich gold bearing region. the mines are artisanal the techniques and sesto the gold reserves have hardly been tapped. the big companies rarely venture around here but they already hold all the mining permits for the theatre with them all this land is already tenured by the company's campus you know whenever a small farmer goes to request a mining permit he's told that the land has already been allocated someone has
3:30 am
requested it before and famous health in this way the small scale miners are considered illegal by the colombian government they live under fork rule most of the time the guerrilla fighters are invisible but they come here regularly to collect their war tax. in order to work you have to pay the guerillas. everyone pays the entire region of the moco and suddenly. this is the infernal trap the small scale miners are caught him subjected to paying extortion money as a result they're accused of supporting the guerrillas. it's an injustice. if we didn't pay the fox they close down the mine they don't let us work and they kick us out of the region. for decades there were
3:31 am
just these galleries dug out in the mountain but not far from here our guide wants to show us some new forms of land exploitation much more destructive. in the heart of the jumbo excavators dig up the river bed and eat away at the forest little by little. the machines dig up thousands of tons of earth which they unload into giant sifters where the gold is extracted using large quantities of mercury. after their passage nothing grows here again and the streams are destroyed. in order to be able to work the owners of these machines have received the go ahead from the farts who take their cut here to. all the work sites have to pay the guerrilla groups that control the region and let
3:32 am
you know. that in the columbia. wherever there are riches. there is armed conflict but people who want to make easy money find it they want enough us. gold feeds the conflict but also provides a livelihood for thousands of people at the side of the work site workers by tuner and gold washers. and. they collect the small stones from the gaping holes left by the machines and it's a ceaseless activity the excavator is working day and night. at nightfall the miners meet up at the sosa a village of wooden boards and sheet metal set in the middle of nowhere. a true
3:33 am
colombian far west that has been brought to life again with a new gold rush. during the weekend alcohol flows freely. and. the girls wait at the bar. in one night the miners spend their entire week's earnings. on here gold is sold in small stones. but this spot is a bit pale less spam. at all and i give you two forty for it. to forty but it hit me and. this is to pay my debts with. and i have a few drinks. most of the miners have just arrived in the region they are former cocoa plant growers now it's money they've earned from gold
3:34 am
that they bet on the cockfights. it always finishes badly for the cocks and sometimes for the miners to. eagle that i don't watch the headlights they had be careful i did this man an excavator driver got into a machete fight over money the old his adversary for euro's. the closest hospital is a two day mule ride away while the bar owner takes on the role of dr. don't get me a pair of scissors austin made his wife i think she has them at the minute there in the central core of the yet and richest land in the world and we don't even have a pair of scissors but we're really shit. here everyone blames the government the eternal absent. one sunday morning the village has a hangover. we
3:35 am
leave. a commander of the forks eight hundred froggies waiting for us further up in the mountains. for a two day journey. our guides are local farmers. the forks have long lived off of the cocoa plant more and more they are financing themselves from gold. and a bend in the path the first guerrilla fighters it's the advanced post. the fighting has been waging since morning on the other side of the valley. the gunfire. the army helicopters fire rockets at the rebel positions a routine occurrence for the guerrilla fighters. and you know that in our instructions are to remove all the phone batteries turn
3:36 am
off the radios and i and everything that's electrical and conceal ourselves in the forest. said the major part of the troop is hidden close by beneath the trees. it's in a camp such as this one where ingrid betancourt was held captive for six years. these last few years the old marxist guerrilla group has suffered heavy losses but it still counts eight thousand men and women ready to die for the cause. today the guerrillas have received from their suppliers photos of the weapons offered for sale a machine gun and some coalition cough rifles. this machine gun. were in the process of negotiating the price at twenty thousand euro zone but i'm doing twenty thousand euros is ok but it's not too expensive. i think
3:37 am
bundling up but when there's no money on one side there's always some on the other i. today on days as a few thoughts would always have enough to survive on ticket i mean if the kolker and gold disappear. at daybreak the rebels break camp. alberto the commander of the eighteenth front has just arrived to give them their instructions. but we're leaving because there are enemy movements and we have activities organized elsewhere. on the program a meeting with the miners of the region a long walk begins toward the meeting place. the guerrilla fighters move around in small groups. the main danger comes from the sky fly
3:38 am
a plane. at the slightest sound of an engine the forks take cover. the fighters cut through the jungle. in the zone of the eighteenth front miners and excavator start arriving at the forks fear that spies might use this opportunity to infiltrate them. before the meeting a briefing session is necessary. you must observe people's attitudes their behavior. if someone makes a phone call for example. serve the inhabitants facial expressions very carefully.
3:39 am
you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. to speak your language the truth full program documentaries in arabic it's all here on all t.v. reporting from the world's hot spots the v.o.i.p. interviews intriguing stories for you. in trying.
3:41 am
the news about international landlords in the very heart of moscow. the column finally reaches the village all the villagers are there their presence is obligatory.
3:42 am
as they must go by yet my dear comrades but it is men and women farmers miners and a lot of new faces are present at the side of the villagers excavator drivers and gold washers who have just come out here each meeting with the civilians is a political platform and with the arrival of the multinationals the anti government speeches have been injected with new life you know you need unit in the. i mean india is an estimate they a mining operation is a capitalist strategy but to win the trust of the investors they buy more and more helicopters planes and weapons in order to enable the multinationals to work in peace in colombia that i know they've been going on that's the policy of trust for the investors. after the fine speech practical questions the gorilla arbitrates all matters divorce is chicken faffed more respect for discipline. today
3:43 am
the defendant is pedro an excavator owner when peter has had too much to drink he fires gun shots in the. they're going up with that in mind that you can't just go shooting your gun off like that what if the gorilla came by just as a shooting if they were at it. and. that is our custom. one shot can generate panic in the whole community is what you have to correct these bad habits my friends. if it happens again the grill is going to confiscate all the weapons and you'll be made to pay a fine. the forks rule doesn't stop minors from flocking into their mountains after the meeting is over a man takes the commander to one side to propose him a deal. you know if you let two or three excavators in that's always
3:44 am
ten fifteen million pesos for you and you have a lot of people just appalling. so we're going to help you think about it two or three small machine so we can all work together ok ok right. alberto now discusses with the villagers the sharing out of the gold. this man rents his land to an excavator owner he's paid in gold and gives half of his share to the local farmers associations it's the forks who fix the price scale. the guerrillas negotiate their share directly with the mine operators. they don't know what do you know selves percentage but not very much. i mean to be honest some of the machine owners you know it's every month it depends it's about four to five million pesos a partnership in. two thousand euros per excavator you know berto zone there are dozen of them today at least one third of the
3:45 am
eighteenth fronts revenues comes from gold. as we leave these mountains we pass new excavators yet another group of miners eager to make their fortune and the rebels out even if it means supporting the fark war effort. since two thousand and eleven the guerrilla movement has stepped up its attacks in one year close to five hundred soldiers and policemen lost their lives in combat. today in medina it's the funeral of a police chief killed in an ambush. but the fark aren't the only ones to regain strength thanks to gold the region of calcutta is the most violent gold bearing zone of colombia here it's the criminal gangs that want their share of the
3:46 am
spoils they are known as the black creams for short. these groups are the heirs of the paramilitary organizations the lay down their arms in the early two thousand in order to retain control over the drug trafficking some of their leaders set up new groups the back rooms were responsible for over eight thousand murders in two thousand and ten. in cook asia it's from this army base that the raids against the back chremes are launched. on this wanted poster their main leaders. for the back creams gold represent certain advantages over cocaine as this military intelligence officer explains to us. that it's easier to market. a lot of cocaine can be seized at any time. as it leaves the production server of the country when it arrives at its destination but this isn't the case for the go. to. be sent to
3:47 am
him it is a small scale mine operator in the coke zero zero region like him hundreds of small operators in this spec remote controlled zone or systematically held to ransom. yeah i said but i've been working in this area for thirty years and i've always had to pay the armed groups. that i knew the paramilitaries have changed their name and strategy but they're still the same in the murderers and a minimum of on at the. center runs a small open air mining operation. once a week he collects the or amassed on these belts. the dangers of mercury are the least of his worries.
3:48 am
i've been doing this for thirty years and it hasn't killed me yet. in the late morning he gets a phone call bad news one of his goods boats has been blocked by a cream. we'll see what we can do given that in this country it's the sons of bitches during come on. what's the problem. i'm having some equipment by river over there just before there's a village at the back rooms have taken over and they won't let anyone prosody know what they say that the rivers there is now. so i mean these guys got into the habit of living off other people's labor. you don't want to work. dissent he dares to break the law of silence because he's at the end of his rope the small operator has put himself in debt to buy his machines and he has to pay
3:49 am
security guards to protect his kilo of gold he'll spend the day on the phone negotiating with the back creams to let his equipment through on the river. a silent war wages on the river netty the civilians are its first casualties. all along the river dredges of all sizes scrape the bad in search of gold. the presence of the army doesn't change anything here the back creams organize cocaine trafficking and record tearing of the gold mine operators. three rival gangs fight for control of the river in the frontline the water taxi drivers count the dead. american people when it's very complicated around here he strangers who come out here have problems with sort of problems.
3:50 am
what sort of problems will. they kill him they don't ask any questions they just kill people. why do they do that. for the us i guess they think they've come to spy on them and he am. not a paranoid. in these villages the people aren't very talkative because the killers mingle with the local population dressed in civilian clothes the criminal gangs watch over the ports the districts the houses. we attempted to approach them and nobody was willing to help us establish contact to dangerous. in the gold shops transactions are made in cash with no questions asked enormous
3:51 am
sums totally unmonitored the bank creams use gold to launder drug money. in a medieval region twenty million euros are believed to be laundered each year thanks to the yellow metal. seen from above the connection between gold and cocaine is blatant. in the cashin savannah's the landing strips of the drug traffickers are side by side with the open air mines. in order to dry up the armed groups money sources the police step up raids against the illegal mines everywhere in the gold bearing zones the same desolate landscapes forests and rivers devastated contaminated by mercury. in fact it's in the name of environmental protection that the authorities intervene. opening it and without it i mean what counts in this operation is the surprise factor to be able to catch them red had.
3:52 am
one hundred fifty policemen surround a zone of unauthorized mining operations the commandos were deployed within minutes . but most of the time the workers have already bolted before the arrival of the troops who find only recently abandoned equipment the engine still wont. today sixteen miners are apprehended after a brief appearance in court will set off again in search of work in other illegal mines this excavator hidden before the arrival of the police doesn't escape notice by the aerial surveillance results of the day's operation eight machines immobilized and a dozen mines closed down. the forks in the mountains the creams in the plains the multinational corporations that divide the pa amongst themselves and thousands of small miners who pick up the crumbs each one plays his
3:53 am
role each one knows his place. and. those who refused to participate in the gold rush are few and far between. were in the deep south of colombia in the territory of the not so indians they have long opposed the mighty liberations and its devastating effects on the environment when the nasi saw the first gold seekers start to arrive they began by asking these new intruders to leave they finally lost patience. one morning the indians besieged the miners camp yet. you call that generating work if you see all this damage you can create employment by destroying the environment like this all this cyanide you think it's good for the earth so when. the protectors of mother earth on one side the gold seekers on the other a clash is inevitable. and
3:54 am
set fire to it but it all. bring in more machines just saying. in order to disperse the indians the excavator guards pull out their guns. luckily no one is injured. but by talking a mining operation for the first time the naso indians are sending a clear message their sacred mountains are worth much more than all the gold in colombia. organic.
3:55 am
download the official publication to yourself choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorites. if you're away from your television just doesn't do so now with your mobile device you can watch on t.v. anytime anywhere. wealthy british style holds a. lot of. markets
3:56 am
why not scandals. find out what's really happening to the global economy in the kinds of reports on. the mission free accreditation free in-store charge is free. range means free risk free studio time free. download free broadcast quality video for your media projects and free media. dot com. which. we can with. the consensus can. choose the opinions that you. choose the stories that impact your life choose the access to.
3:59 am
the government international airport in the very heart of moscow. bottling for supremacy venezuela's new president elect nicolas maduro and his opposition rival of course in a deadlock over mutual accusations as post-election violence leaves at least seven
4:00 am
dead. but claims of responsibility for the boston bombing atrocity i think best to gauge as a race to unravel the worst terror attack in the u.s. since nine eleven which came despite years of heightened security. the u.s. military reveals to detainees at guantanamo bay recently trying to kill themselves in protest at indefinite detention with a mass hunger strike at the facility now in the middle of it's a sad model. this is aussie coming to you live from moscow and welcome to the program. in the making that's what venezuela's newly elected president nicolas maduro has claimed
4:01 am
he says is going to prove his rival is planning to bring him down just a couple of days after his victory and it's all being orchestrated by the u.s. meanwhile at least seven people have been killed following sunday's presidential elections that split the population almost clean down the middle prompting large scale demonstrations there to see reports now from the venezuelan capital. this is the sound of a ferry to far the station post-election venezuela where you can hear and i was proud to have the supporters the ability to get the feeling of the opposition here to support us to stay at home and this makes this the sign of their protests nicolas mahut of fear president who won by a very narrow margin had urged fireworks around the city from his supporters to capture this. syntax model had also banned protests in the center in downtown he said for security reasons now we know we see that after the elections
4:02 am
here and it is where the nation is really departed almost split into two now the support for model is just about fifty percent and he is facing a very tough battle as the president has accused the printer scanner of the violence that has occurred the government say that already seven people have died from this post-election violence the pinas say that it was not us care who was behind this number the others also said that everything the opposition is doing is affected by the united states he says what the prius is pointing out all the evidence of election fraud he said there were five hundred thirty five voting. machines that were damaged and so the two sides literally fighting off it is. the fight here is that israel is clearly not has clearly not entered after the presidential election and as far as part of this concert the first thing you have
4:03 am
to do is tonight a very divided nation and of course one of the biggest challenges is still it will coach obvious issues his predecessor it will be very hard for him to move forward fixing the problems of the country making sure the government the military is behind it and of course the population. and i spoke to mark mason political analyst for u.s. domestic and foreign policy is about well so worried at stake and ongoing crisis. we have a close election that's going to decide really a very important concern we all know what it is sixty three letter word or oil the system because who's going to control future of venezuelan oil there's no question that the u.s. has had a stake and pumping millions of dollars into opposition groups in better is a whale and we have documentation from wiki leaks that the u.s. state department has called the former president chavez the enemy and talked about the importance of dividing of these moles and other portions of us standing up for
4:04 am
u.s. business concerns in south america that as you say show in a washington has been trying to push its agenda in the region but does it have to offer it was even recently up until recent years that saudi arabia was thought to have the largest single oil reserves on the planet but the in venezuela and that's the big prize the u.s. is the global head tomorrow and it's the gold bully but it's a desperate and desperate situation right now it's been in during the past fifteen years losing its grip its iron grip on certain south america i almost all the countries in south america except for colombia are now taking an independent track they've been key u.s. military bases out of their countries such as in ecuador and you have a sort of a desperate dying and collapsing empire the united states that sees this greek
4:05 am
crisis and there's no question that it's been spending money but it regards to the money that the u.s. tours and to subvert democracy in venezuela the future of venezuela will not be decided in washington it will be decided on the streets of venezuela by venezuelans . the twin bombings that killed three and injured more than one hundred seventeen both were reportedly homemade and designed to maim as many people as possible officials say there are still no suspects and was the worst terror attack in the u.s. since nine eleven the tragedy took place at a major public event despite years of tough multibillion dollar security measures in the citric and it's in boston with more for us. the picture perfect city of boston brings back memories and fears that americans have not dealt with since september eleventh. it really hasn't hit me yet. like i had i couldn't sleep last night i'm constantly
4:06 am
like anxious nervous i can't focus on my studies because i'm a graduate student a block from where it happens like wow like it really hits you the investigation is yet to determine whether the attack was carried out domestically or by a foreigner and whether or not individuals were behind this and even though officials say there's no longer an immediate threat security has been beefed up here in boston and probably united states the obama administration has already referred to what happened as a terror act but exactly what kind of consequences this will have for america's foreign and domestic policy remains to be seen a media frenzy surrounding the bombings the united states has not seen a similar act in years officials are saying the investigation is still very fluid but the majority of questions yet to be answered who and why was behind the attack and how secure really is the united states of today over the last decade the u.s. has pumped enormous resources into security and steps often criticised for
4:07 am
breaching the rights of u.s. citizens and foreigners alike but what are the results and have all these efforts created anything more than an illusion of safety and. boston massachusetts. as brian becker says the u.s. has known adopted a militarized approach to security which has now failed today but where it counts most only the home front. since september eleventh the united states government has sent spent hundreds of billions of dollars for government security agencies right now i'm sure as happened after september eleventh private security companies are salivating over the new contracts that are are soon to come of course there is a business there there's there's profits and even mega profits made by this kind of security apparatus but you can see in the case of boston they don't have any leads right now there was no indication that such an attack was coming so is it possible
4:08 am
by the by by using military methods and security methods alone to stop terrorist attacks to protect society i don't think so we can see though that the u.s. policy at home and abroad as well is almost exclusively based on. towards security towards militarization towards the abrogation of civil rights and civil liberties which i think ultimately don't defend protect and make people more secure. and. hunger strike could go on tunnel obey us in a traffic disclosed to rescind suicide attempts by protesting detainees and they also defended a prison guard raid on cells over the weekend which resulted in violent clashes with several inmates and my colleague about all spoke with bag was released from guantanamo without challenge after two years and he doesn't believe a bomb is prepared to do leave on his pledge to close the facility. there has to be a will and i don't think that the will exists certainly have still got people in
4:09 am
guantanamo eleven years since the invasion of afghanistan and there's no practical will to send these individuals to places where they're supposed to have a basic normal life and i don't know where the will is going to come to the troops withdrawn when still problems that were instituted at the time of bush not being cleared at the time of. if you were in there now in guantanamo would you go on hunger strike absolutely absolutely there's no doubt about it in my mind because the hunger strike is a. is an action of desperation they had an old very well in one tunnel that the only way you can get your rights is by taking extreme measures and of course the hunger strike a something something that's been going on and off for the past eleven years this time around i think the numbers that i heard from the lawyers and so forth is it's close to three quarters of the prisoners that are there because they've been there for such a long time almost none of them have been charged with any any recognizable crime
4:10 am
and had they been convicted of a crime of terrorism they would have served their sentences by now most of them and i think that's what the the prisoners there are protesting about the process and about the conditions they're protesting about the water and i remember the water that used to come from the taps at the time when i was there it used to be yellow and undrinkable and not much has changed in that regard because the abuse says that the religious abuses are still taking place the prisons are still complaining about those things through the lawyers and even one of them has just recently written something through his lawyer in the in one the american papers and when he talks about that you people are slowly killing us without establishing any evidence against us at all. this comes as an independent american same time releases a report accusing top u.s. officials of being a responsible for torture gone time of day because the fusion project concluded it
4:11 am
was indisputable that hughes had been carried out there while the practice has damaged america's moral standing and actually put u.s. personnel at greater risk worldwide the panel adage that doors remain open to further torture as long as no one is in brought in and brought to account for what's already happened and ambassador james who helped compile the report says most detainees at guantanamo have completely lost any hope. you have the majority of these prisoners for whom our government has said there's no reason to hold them anymore we don't want them they're not there they're not accused of anything and yet they have not taken the actions that are necessary to remove these these prisoners from guantanamo and send them back to their home countries or to a neutral country where they will not be tortured force feeding under the circumstances we found is tantamount to torture what is inhumane is
4:12 am
a treatment for some prisoners in solitary confinement for many many hours at a time sometimes many days the separation from other prisoners so that you don't have that social contact that's that is a form of torture that should be stopped i think the biggest torture for the majority of the prisoners in guantanamo is the lack of hope the fact that they thought that the after they were judged. by our government as not necessary not terrorist not needed for information that they should be released and now their concern in many of these that are on the starvation diet many of these i understand just last hope they think they'll never be able to leave guantanamo and that's the reason for their action. find out how they've gone tunnel hunger strike has been unfolding on our website or been following it since it first became public hearing
4:13 am
from four detainees noise activists and x. but it's as well as showing videos from the facility. that says to the head on the base channel. russian troops and caught on to corruption blowback explain abad it could get up to ten years behind bars for allegedly embezzling hop a million dollars from the state from all the details. will be. money it's technology innovation all the moves developments around russia we've got the future covered. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm sorry welcome to the big picture.
4:14 am
more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images world world has been seeing from the streets of canada. trying to corporations rule the day. you're watching r.t. and welcome back to a court and central russia has postponed for a week a trial of top opposition activists alexina bali is charged with stealing over five
4:15 am
hundred thousand dollars worth of timber from a statewide run company here vised back in two thousand and nine however in a valley who is a verb and anti corruption blogger in says the case against him was politically motivated as can offer force now. the court hearing ended just around one hour after starting defense appealed to the judge to reschedule saying they didn't have enough time to properly get ready and the judge agreed to reschedule for next week so i. exited the courthouse behind the surrounded by a crowd of journalists and supporters in fact we're told that some people have to camp out here throughout the night in front of the courthouse to get in since the room inside fits only around sixty people and there's a very heavy media presence and lots of supporters here as well earlier we saw two separate rallies taking place right across the street from one another one well in support. and the other one i guess but both were conducted quite peacefully. is
4:16 am
a well known and controversial figure in russia first of all he's an opposition blogger who made his name by conducting his online anti corruption project he's also a fierce critic of the kremlin and one of the most influential opposition activists and leaders especially during last year we. just what the controversial side is. open connection to russian nationalists now about this particular case the authorities are accusing. of organizing a criminal scheme to steal around a half a million dollars worth of timber from a state company this was back in two thousand and nine when he was the aide to the local governor here in cuba but his supporters claim that this case is purely political. now they are radical islamist movement is gaining ground in germany with immigrants attempting to apply bad traditions and noise to their new home the
4:17 am
country's government however is trying to curb the spreading among the islamist a model of extremist islamic sentiment as the owner of home. germany is cracking down on islamic extremism and the latest move three cell of the store going to raise asians were banned after it was deemed they wanted to implement sharia law in the heart of europe those behind making the ban insist they're not anti islamic just up olding the law we have more than five million muslims living in germany and there's a lot of fruit for corporation and living together and i think that has to be safeguarded as well as germany's open society and we are able to integrate all people why where is religion or whatever but on the other hand if someone wants to stay in germany he has to fulfill the obligations to keep the laws to accept that we have special laws in fight against terrorism for example and who is keeping
4:18 am
these laws has no problems who is not keeping the laws has no right to stay in germany the decision to outlaw these groups coincided with police boiling an assassination attempt on one of radical islam's biggest critics far right party chief markets by need he gave much as i and i underestimated the danger that's a laugh is posed there but they were arrested very near my house this brings the situation into a whole new dimension my life has changed now i cannot walk without police protection not even shopping i'm picked up from home dropped off at work we're driving in a bulletproof car this is very difficult to have such a lifestyle just because you engage in politics. in all four people were arrested with bomb making equipment and loaded weapons found in their possession by six critics say he brought this on himself his party incensed members of germany's islamic community last year after tearing down the tory is mohammed cartoons around
4:19 am
german cities symbols that are deeply offensive to muslims. this is fascination attempt shows that now they want us to shut up with the use of violence in their eyes islamic extremism should not be allowed to be questioned and if you do or you end up on a death list it's dangerous a scary development salafism is one of germany's fastest growing islamic sects distracting both muslims and calling virtue fishel figures show their numbers are growing by the thousand every year those who fear what they see is the islamification of germany believe the country's previous experience with extremism leaves it unwilling to see the risks of probably in dodging of their traffic the problem is that germany's always afraid of the danger from the right because of our past we're very sensitive about that as we should be but the danger of islamification is totally underestimated we will not capitulate we will not stop we will not abandon our path of missiles the banning of groups with links to extremism
4:20 am
is the way security services are looking to tackle potentially violent organizations however this leaves the question will it drive extremism underground perhaps making it more difficult to thought future attacks peter all over r.t. germany. and you can go on our website o.o.t. dot com to get more comprehensive coverage on all of our stories and much more and he is waiting for you there right down. in belgium please leave knows started on time and in the city searching for the man who are said to be directly recruiting volunteers to join terrorism and syria. also russia joins the international simulated most project in america's middle west go to o.t. don't home to learn about this world experience.
4:21 am
speak your language. programs installed human trees in arabic it's when you hear. the teachings of the world talk to six of the r.p. interview intriguing story to tell you. troy arabic for me visit arabic don't call. and let's not check some other while stories from around the globe iraq is husband launched on israel's southern most town obaid launch the missiles were fired from egyptians of all the time sinai region one of three walkouts reportedly exploded outside a residential area however there have been no reports of casualties so far so that israel was placed on high alert after reports of an al qaeda cell based in sinai preparing a multiple of terror. also security is on high alert in
4:22 am
london where the funeral of the prime minister margaret thatcher will be held later this morning will found offices have been dropped today and the ceremony is being held with full military honors and will and two thousand guests from around the world well let's hand for it as fast and only female prime minister died last week a beige of ages seven following a stroke and she will be most remembered for her strict and uncompromising policies and helping to end the cold war. thirty four people have been killed and dozens injured in pakistan installing a seven point five magnitude earthquake centered on the country's border with iran the tremors and up chunks were felt throughout their passion gulf states just over a week ago another earthquake hit southern iran leaving such a seven people dead. today to our next hour we're having coal stove in just
4:24 am
. lived lived. lives . victims multiply here each day. it's very profitable to invest in colombia which. is a very high return on investment. if you'll call me that he has said that i've been working in this area for thirty years and i've always had to play the armed groups
4:25 am
i mean that is. change their name and strategy but just tell the same murderous. high ranking suspects you know coming. pretty upset about that mr president. to president putin. but the media. i won't give an interview i'm sorry but no. investigation is it. says six stop your bullshit and keep quiet or else you'll suffer the consequences. even if they're your bodyguards to watch themselves because the same goes for them . regards from since i've never heard of such a case as ours for so much money and gold has scope for so many years. for all the gold in colombia.
4:29 am
you know we've only seen. hello and welcome across town where all things considered i'm peter lavelle she was known as the iron lady probably the only thing factor critics and supporters could agree upon margaret thatcher is arguably the most polarizing leader the world has known in the last half century and her legacy remains hotly debated to this day how
4:30 am
did she change the way we think about politics and that she leave the world a better place. to cross-talk margaret thatcher's legacy i'm joined by matthew wealthy or in washington he is a fellow at the competitive enterprise institute and a regular contributor to open market dot org also in washington we have clifford d's he is a professor of economics and finance and shenandoah university and in london we cross to felicity garry she's an international criminal barrister and media commentator on cross talk rules in effect i mean you can jump any time you want felicity what is the lasting legacy of that she's buried today well to me. she's a terrible disappointment but she had great power and. great responsibility i think that might be. but it's not fun they are now suffering. all of her. critical come trained ok matthew jump in agree or
4:31 am
disagree with that. i'm going to have to disagree with that peter and i figured you were actually was a revolutionary both on the right. she was a revolutionary figure in politics on both the right and the left she had the courage to stand up to this keynesian consensus that it dominated politics since the one nine hundred fifty s. that it caused runaway inflation wildcat strikes throughout the u.k. and europe. she her legacy was enduring and especially in so far as john major her successor and tony blair also her successor continued her policies which is i think all really the vindication you need she was her legacy was also enduring in europe in the sense that a socialist president frank in one thousand nine hundred two made a historic u. turn away from the policies of keynesianism toward thatcher's policies because france was in largely the same position as the u.k. nine hundred seventy nine and he realized that it was going very very poorly and he
4:32 am
took a turn towards that as policies and lastly i think she was an inspiration to women as well she broke the proverbial glass ceiling when high politics which was a male dominated club and i think barack obama got right when i said that she really going to jump and jump in and i think you can necessarily say that the bar for women i think she did very well to get there as a woman but the difficulty is that it didn't really pave the way for a number of other women to enter into politics what she really had to do and i accept that she was tough enough to do it was survive in a man's world and very much survived in a finance. financially incentivised world where she behaved in a way that didn't provide for everybody the you know the whole colson's of society would get left out of the policies that were made at the time so that what we're
4:33 am
suffering now is such a huge. huge gap between rich and poor in education in cranes in manufacturing in the legal profession once you bring in competition you leave half the country behind so the health of that country includes a lot of women so i accept that she did extremely well to get where she was as a woman but it doesn't necessarily pave the way for a number of other women kclub the problem it's made of launching a clever jumping. where for margaret thatcher. not only broke the get a glass ceiling she also prove that it is true today that the evil that a woman does lose after her and the good is often interred to her bones matthew when her bones that's correct that that that that it is fair game i don't what i really don't agree with this is how in the world that men and women are
4:34 am
today. and we have gone beyond the laws of the walking we should want a man's going women today in time we're talking over each other guys they compete on their own bases she she enjoyed a ten to fifteen percentage point that women have seen references matthew matthew perry minister's son of when skilled and skilled workers alike. well i think the problem for women in the top layer is with still not lead so you can't necessarily hold margaret thatcher up as a figurehead for women when we're still trying to break through what i call the dense layer of men there are still not very many women at the top there's a lot of women going to work but the problem at the moment is going to work without the protection of the union save for a lot of women. decades that hasn't been the opportunity to progress obviously is better than it was but i don't think you can necessarily how one woman up as a figurehead for womankind and particularly not margaret thatcher no that would not
4:35 am
be fair to any particular person nobody speaks for women but margaret thatcher spoke for herself and that's true for men as well and part of the inequality we have today in income is that we have two fisted families we have many families who are both the male and female spouse work full time and how do you compare a single. household headed by a single person to a household headed by a liberated man and woman match if you want to jump in what about the middle class well margaret thatcher did tremendous things for the middle class in the sense that she was promoted to manager ship she she she deregulated finance and reregulated finance to break the aristocratic club of the upper class she allowed the working class and the middle class to finally own their own homes and start their own
4:36 am
businesses there's a reason why during her tenure the u.k. had the largest business investment the largest growth in business investment in europe is because i'm sure her policies were a huge boon to entrepreneurs and i think the strong support she got from the working class bears that out and vindicates those policies like i said before she has to be fifteen percent of the city with some strong support from the working part time slot older workers alike a long term decline. go ahead the problem is that what you've got is short term well for long term decline you can bet on the futures market all you like and let's all be rich for a couple of decades and then the turnaround happens that's the consequences of the legacy case that some people are terribly cold with no opportunity and some people are you know horribly rates and there isn't much in between all you've got is the middle class overworked and underpaid and it isn't a great director say. you can have
4:37 am
a tough leader and lots of people who recognize celular it's only during that the second their day line of a little time they are not our day that well the four are going very little at best cliff are jumping ahead yes the secular decline of the middle class started well before that or took office we have the same problem in the united states that there is an uneven growth opportunities did widen at the top and the next to the top and so forth the accordion style the classes moved up not that the poor got poorer but the poor got nowhere and this presents real challenges to us to this day matthew do you agree with that. i don't think that you can blame margaret thatcher for current problems especially because there's the a large decades gap having to do with tony blair's policies and gordon brown's policies which i think to lead a lot to britain's decline but we've also got to consider the alternative that your
4:38 am
face that britain faced in the one nine hundred eighty s. there was runaway inflation there were a wildcat strikes and so this idea that well you know she created someone employment this is true fiscal retrenchment did end up creating some unemployment but what was the alternative another i.m.f. bailout the u.k. already suffered that embarrassment in one thousand nine hundred seventy six and if these policies had continued on as they did in france margaret thatcher would have been forced to turn course justice find it on did in one thousand nine hundred two just the same so i really don't see the alternative that felicity is presenting here to thatcher's policy and say let her answer for yourself go ahead. in the same time agree with you that you can't you can't blame her on her own that there have been choices in parliament around a number of prime ministers say she didn't sit in parliament on her own there were people there with her and if the policies were wrong they had the opportunity to stand up to her and vote on behalf of their constituents which they didn't do so
4:39 am
she was effectively handed carte blanche to do what she liked. what i was saying is that we are now reaping what was sown it may well have been built upon by other prime ministers and that's probably another argument but in terms of remembering margaret fact what what most people remember is that the creation of that divide between the rich and poor started when she was in office and you only have to take a moment to look at all the stories that are being published this week however tough she was and where mark couple and however much we will debate her abilities and have policies in the future at the same time there are thousands and thousands and thousands of people out of work and reduced to the bread line and really hasn't got any better since they've been waves of wealth that hasn't really got down to the education and the advancement of ordinary people clifford which i too reactive
4:40 am
and i think it's very clear for it whether it's no doubt we live in a very tough times now or but. the. we over learned the success of thatcher and reagan from that trip through player and from reagan through clinton we learned that we could have uninterrupted growth that recessions would be only my old and we discounted risk and so we encourage people unprepared perhaps or prematurely perhaps to undertake mortgages and other responsibilities beyond their economic means and beyond their cultural reasoning we need those values of working and saving we need a transformation of individuals so they could fully embrace matthew if i wanted to bring you in to react to that man to go ahead i agree with clifford and i think those values of personal responsibility and savings were values that margaret
4:41 am
thatcher encouraged by saving nobody say they mean money everybody went into debt come on come on everyone into debt her policy is no no peter peter sees a fiscal retrenchment and balancing the budget we're very beneficial to encouraging savings in the long run that's why productivity resumed that's why business investment you have to have savings to have an met you have to jump in here listen we're going to go to when short break and after that short break we'll continue our discussion on margaret thatcher state are. really only one.
4:42 am
actually your image of iraq after inflation. twenty day taxi trip through the country. the road full of danger. clear evidence from north to south. the rooftop of iraqi tragedy. after the war waiting for peace. by god taxi on our t.v. .
4:43 am
the work of international and world in the very heart of moscow. welcome back to cross talk where all things are considered i'm peter lavelle to remind you we're discussing margaret thatcher's legacy. matthew fingal back to you why were so many people partying after that or is death in britain kind of an odd thing to do. i think this this is very wrong headed and distasteful but why despite the vote right. despite despite the partying i don't think that's representative at all. of the people that
4:44 am
brit's at the time especially because like i said she said she had a lot of support from the working class the people that were partying that were largely the public servants that had their broad jobs cut working in unproductive industry and the people that had been working unfortunately in unproductive businesses that have been egged on by keynesian spending from the fifty's the sixty's in the seventy's and that it's unfortunate but their jobs had become no longer productive and they needed to shift to a different production obviously when when factory came in to modernize the economy . they were they were left having to endure some short term hardship and so i think this is the divide we said we also think britain but it's by no means representative of most brits go back to london go ahead. i think one of the problems is that that if he did have the support of the working class the problem now is that there isn't any work for those same people that supported and hoped that that was going to be something that's for the working class and now all
4:45 am
unemployed and just by way of example if. if i can bring my position as a barrister to this what we have now asked swindling cards in terms of legal aid and other cuts for ordinary people that mean there is very little representation and because those ordinary people don't have unions and don't have a voice that there is very little that people can do other than try and keep working get them thousand to a job so i think people are celebrating her death because that third measurable. in a sense that idea that the. individual is responsible for themselves and we're not going to look after each other hopefully dies with her clifford weigh in . clearer if i may comment on the. we we are living in depressed economic times a long period of depressed economic times such as we've known since the one nine hundred thirty s. russians would call this
4:46 am
a kondratieff cycle and it makes kind of a joke of being a free person when you can't find a job how do you provide for yourself and serve others except through work so from a conservative standpoint having a vibrant economy is the most important social program so that each person can make the responsible choice to get a job provide for themselves and to serve others to have the dignity that comes from work and seeing no incentive to invest our fear breaks the heart of a conservative matthew that was very interesting when. i think of it while listening clifford you have a point that you know. there is unemployment in the u.k. right now and it is pretty bad that's not the result of factories legacy it's there it's the exact opposite it's a result of david cameron not falling factures legacy there are no savage cuts
4:47 am
taking place in the u.k. right now in fact budgets have increased since proposed austerity since george osborne proposed austerity in the second quarter of two thousand and ten budgets have not gone down there are no savage cuts and what we're seeing here is essentially a replay of france in one thousand nine hundred ninety nine and this is a very this is a situation that margaret thatcher tried to avoid and unfortunately david cameron is throwing aside her legacy and following the continued cain keynesianism which props up unproductive industry unproductive finance and creates unemployment and that's what's going on in the u.k. right now it's not a result of the let's go to the u.k. what's going on in the u.k. back to the if you go back to the idea of the individual i think we started this debate with what was miss is that what was barren as that which is legacy i think the message that she had at the time was look i'm a grocer's daughter from grantham if i can do it anybody can but without
4:48 am
providing the ability for anybody else to do it once out there sort of pulled up the ladder and stayed where she was and that we have now is an inability for people who might be grocers dalton's from ordinary villages around the country or towns they simply cannot get on the latter and whether that's her like a thing all just her identity or what is identified with her that all for one and one for oneself rather than all for one one for all we will be debating for a very long time clifford head. yes we need we need heroes among us to lead us into the workplace or any other field of endeavor but we also needed to be possible for people of ordinary abilities to be successful and to a conservative a vibrant economy has to be the number one priority of government dealing with the immediate c of a recession is one thing pump priming you know
4:49 am
a little bit of keynesianism may be called for but then you have to look at to business confidence investor confidence you want the money taken out of the corporate treasury and put it into investment to plant and hiring and training workers and so there is a fraternity of the productive classes those capital and the labor conservative matthew matthew she increased by the front from the beginning to her term to the end of her term government spending actually increased one hundred thirty six percent now the reason why we say she shrunk government is because her policies were so successful at stimulating growth that government in relative terms to g.d.p. actually went down so that's the kind of growth we need and yes it's certainly true like felicity said that there are always people that slip through the cracks in every and every society but that's by no means representative of factures policies
4:50 am
as a whole she brought up the middle class and gave them the tools they needed through being able to own their own homes through act through giving capital access to the ordinary man no longer did a factory worker and assembly line worker need to be there for the rest of his life and they could start their own business by using their home as collateral and b. and have started start a life for themselves essentially that was independent that we made to the son to say i'm going to go ahead tell you. as a public housing stock i sell it to people who then pass it on to their children there really wasn't a great policy to sell off the housing stock so that we now have no public housing for people injected a load of cash into the coffers at the time fending off the council houses but it doesn't in the long term help anybody to get on the business latter i don't know what the statistics are but the idea that the people who bought their house their
4:51 am
council houses then took the money and invested it in a small business must be a nonsense i'm sure someone else can work it out but i think the city how do you explain the rules an entrepreneur isn't during her tenure especially among the middle class how do you explain that. you want to require that if there's really no other explanation as i said earlier i don't know if it was short term welfare long term decline inject some cash in short but now what you have is a lot of business in which you didn't carry cash in short term. i'm sorry what watch what she did was or how long were you know anything related to accessing her for the council house example council house example is a way of obtaining money for a lot of property which creates money that can be put in elsewhere that's just the simple example that i'm giving at the moment but it doesn't make the country better or make the country a better place for the poor people are living in their council houses they just pay
4:52 am
a mortgage instead of paying rent clifford let's change gears here with margaret thatcher i'm going to change gears here clifford was margaret thatcher a great leader in your opinion oh she was a great leader one of the great leaders of the late nineteenth century along with people like ronald reagan pope john paul two done shopping boris yeltsin well. you know the world enjoyed. well you can go and go ahead go ahead go ahead he was sufficient for the time he was sufficient for the time and. and the world turned a page in terms of the spread of democracy and market economy some of the world and today we have only about one quarter of the human race in countries that are poor countries using the un definition that the world's greatest advance in against poverty in the last forty years so yes margaret thatcher in that panoply
4:53 am
of leaders that we enjoyed at that time and we need leadership today we are lacking leadership and then let me also give another instance of leadership and that is the role that mr thatcher played in allowing his spouse to be the great leader that she was today with women taking their place to do that wherever it may be out or down to make that better had just been you know had i jump in now and i don't you can say i last had a loud pedal going and what i had sort of having enough opinions in there writing. some other point you can bet on that also it is it is that each each of the spouse each partner to a marriage enables and allows the other traditionally the women has so fla slee allowed the man to attain their place but this has to be equal and men's liberation and women's liberation go hand in hand and i congratulate mr
4:54 am
thatcher for allowing his wife to be a great leader and serve the human race as any i'm going to allow you to be shown here i wouldn't change that way and allow a i have to accept that she was someone with the qualities that was capable of being a great lady but as i started this debate if you are a great leader and she did have that toughness and that ability to date then you have to made when you were sponsibility you have to do the right thing and that's the right thing for all the people that you all a day and the problem is that there wasn't a focus on i point out today and i certainly would not sad that a husband allowed a wife to go off and do what you want to do in parliament day i'll let you do so for most of us only some of which i'm not going to have they would fight with folks to listen to something i write and rocket ok i have to jump in here somewhere right out of time a fascinating discussion many thanks and my guest in washington and in london and
4:55 am
thanks to our viewers for watching us here are to see you next time and remember crossfire. leave only one.
4:56 am
place . close i. choose your language. of choice we kill it oh if you're going to kill send us a still some of the to. choose the the concerns get to. choose to opinions that invigorating a good mind to. choose the stories that impact your life choose b. access to your office.
4:57 am
victims multiply here. it's very profitable to invest in colombia. is a very high return on investment. you'll know me he has said that i've been working in this area for thirty years and i've always had to pay the armed groups i mean that is the managers who change their name and strategy but just the same murderous. high ranking suspects you know coming. pretty upset about that mr president. the president. of the media. i won't give an interview i'm sorry but no. investigation is it. says sick and stop your bullshit and keep
4:58 am
quiet or else you'll suffer the consequences. even if your bodyguards to watch themselves because the same goes for them. ribs from synch i've never heard of such a case as ours where so much money and gold has spilled so many. and for all the gold in colombia. i. tell. the street.
4:59 am
it's. boxing for supremacy but as well as new president elect nicolas maduro and he's opposition rival of course in
5:00 am
a dead no called mutual accusations as post-election violence leaves at least seven dead. no planes over sponsibility for the boston bombing atrocity as investigators race to unravel bill was to heart attack and the glass since nine eleven which came despite years of heightened security. on the u.s. military reveals two detainees at guantanamo bay were simply trying to kill themselves in protest at an indefinite detention with a mass hunger strike in the pacific is he now in the middle of its sad. international news and comments live from moscow this is aussie with me. thanks for joining us. a coup in the making that's what venezuela's new elected president
5:01 am
nicolas maduro has claimed he says his goal to prove his rival is planning to bring him down just a couple of days after his victory and it's all being orchestrated by the u.s. meanwhile at least seven people have been killed following sunday's presidential elections that split the nation almost clean down the middle prompting large scale demonstrations there are reports now from the venezuelan capital. this is the sound of a ferry to find a station post-election venezuela where you can hear in our power. to support the belief that the opposition to support is to stay at home and this makes this the sign of their protests nicolas might be a president who was won by a very narrow margin had urged fireworks around the city from his supporters to capture this according symtab model had also banned protests in the center in
5:02 am
downtown he said for security reasons now we know we see that after the elections here and it is well the nation it is clearly divided almost split into two now the support for model is just about fifty percent and he is facing a very tough battle as the president has accused the pillar scours of the violence that has occurred the government say that already seven people have died from this post-election violence subpoena saying that it was not us who was behind this number that has also said that everything the opposition is doing is directed by the united states he says what the prius is pointing out all the evidence of election fraud he said there were five hundred thirty five voting. machines that were damaged and so the two sides literally fighting off it is. the fight here is that israel is feeling not has clearly not entered after the presidential election
5:03 am
and as far as for the rest of sirte the first thing you have to do is unite i fear it defies a nation and of course one of the biggest challenges is still it will coach obvious issues his predecessor it will be very hard for him to move forward fixing the problems of the country making sure the government the military is behind it and of course the population. and i spoke to mark mason a political analyst for u.s. domestic and foreign policies about what's really at stake in the ongoing crisis. we have a close election that's going to decide really a very important concern we all know what it is it's the three letter word or oil the stake is who's going to control future of venezuelan oil there's no question that the u.s. has had a stake and pumping millions of dollars into opposition groups in venezuela we have documentation from wiki leaks that the u.s. state department has called the former president chavez the enemy and talked about
5:04 am
the importance of dividing should these moles and other portions of us standing up for u.s. business concerns in south america that as you say shown a washington has been trying to push its agenda in the region but does it have to offer it was even recently up until recent years that saudi arabia was thought to have the largest single oil reserves on the planet but the in venezuela and that's the big prize the u.s. is the global head tomorrow and it's the gold bully but it's a desperate and desperate situation right now it's been during the past fifteen years losing its grip its iron grip uns in south america i almost all the countries in south america except for colombia are now taking an independent track even key u.s. military bases out of their countries such as in ecuador and you have a sort of
5:05 am
a desperate dying collapsing empire the united states that sees this great price and then there's no question that it's been spending money but it regards to the money that u.s. tours and to subvert democracy in venezuela the future of venezuela will not be decided in washington it will be decided on the streets of venezuela by venezuelans . the twin bombs that killed three and injured more than one hundred seventy in boston were reportedly made and designs to as many people as possible official say there was still no suspects in all three was terror attack in the u.s. since nine eleven the tragedy took place at a major public event despite years of tough multibillion dollar security measures in a situation in boston with more. the picture perfect city of boston brings back memories and fears that americans have not dealt with since september eleventh.
5:06 am
it really hasn't hit me yet. like i had couldn't sleep last night i'm constantly like anxious nervous and i can't focus on my studies because i'm a graduate student a block from where it happens like wow like it really hits you the investigation is yet to determine whether the attack was carried out domestically or by a foreigner and whether or not individuals were behind this and even though officials say there's no longer an immediate threat security has been beefed up here in boston and throughout the united states the obama administration has already referred to what happened as a terror act but exactly what kind of consequences this will have for america's foreign and domestic policy remains to be seen a media frenzy surrounding the bombings the united states has not seen a similar act in years officials are saying the investigation is still very fluid with the majority of questions yet to be answered who and why was behind the attack
5:07 am
and how secure really is the united states of today over the last decade the u.s. has pumped enormous resources into security and steps often criticized for breaching the rights of u.s. citizens and foreigners alike but what are the results and have all these efforts created anything more than an illusion of safety and. boston massachusetts. has run back and says the u.s. has adopted a militarized approach to security which has now failed to deliver what counts most on the home front. since september eleventh the united states government has sent spent hundreds of billions of dollars for government security agencies right now i'm sure as happened after september eleventh private security companies are salivating over the new contracts that are are soon to come of course there is a business there there's there's profits and even mega profits made by this kind of security apparatus but you can see in the case of boston they don't have any leads
5:08 am
right now there was no indication that such an attack was coming so is it possible by the by by using military methods and security methods alone to stop terrorist attacks to protect society i don't think so we can see though that the u.s. policy at home and abroad as well is almost exclusively based on. towards security towards militarization towards the abrogation of civil rights and civil liberties which i think ultimately don't defend protect and make people more secure. and that made the ongoing mass hunger strike a gun tunnel the u.s. military officials have disclosed to rescind a suicide attempts by protesting detainee they also defended a prison guard raid on cells over the weekend which resulted in violent clashes with several inmates and am iconic build all spoke with laws bag was released from guantanamo without charge at sea years and he doesn't believe a bomb is prepared to deliver on his pledge to close the facility. there has to be
5:09 am
a will and i don't think that the will exists certainly have still got people in guantanamo eleven years since the invasion of afghanistan and there's no practical will to send these individuals to places where they're supposed to have a basic normal life and i don't know where the will is going to come to the troops withdrawn when still problems that were instituted at the time of bush have not been cleared at the time of. if you were in there now in guantanamo would you go on hunger strike absolutely absolutely there's no doubt about it in my mind because the hunger strike is a. is an action of desperation they had an old very well in one tunnel that the only way you can get your rights is by taking extreme measures and of course the hunger strike is some something that's been going on and off for the past eleven years this time around i think the numbers that i heard from the lawyers and so forth is it's close to three quarters of the prisoners that are there because
5:10 am
they've been there for such a long time almost none of them have been charged with any any recognizable crime and had they been convicted of a crime of terrorism they would have surface sentences by now most of them and i think that's what the the prisoners that are protesting about the process about the conditions they're protesting about the water and are over the water that used to come from the taps at the time when i was there it used to be yellow and undrinkable and not much has changed in that regard because the abuse says that the religious abuses are still taking place the prisons are still complaining about those things through the lawyers and even one of them has just recently written something through his lawyer in the in one the american papers and when he talks about that you people are slowly killing us without establishing any evidence against us at all. this comes as an independent american thing tank releases a report accusing top u.s. officials of being responsible for tortured gone tandem obey the constitution
5:11 am
project concluded it was indisputable that abuse had been carried out there while the practice has damaged america's moral standing and actually personnel at greater risk worldwide the panel added that doors are open to further to try as long as no one is brought to account for what already happened and james jones who helped to compile the report says it was detainees at guantanamo have completely lost hope. you have the majority of these prisoners for whom our government has said there's no reason to hold them anymore we don't want them they're not there they're not accused of anything and yet they have not taken the actions that are necessary to remove these these prisoners from guantanamo and send them back to their home countries or to a neutral country where they will not be tortured force feeding under the
5:12 am
circumstances we've found is tantamount to torture what is inhumane is a treatment for some prisoners in solitary confinement for many many hours at a time sometimes many days the separation from other prisoners so that you don't have that social contact that's that is a form of torture that should be stopped i think the biggest torture for the majority of the prisoners in guantanamo is the lack of hope the fact that they thought that the after they were judged. by our government as not necessary not terrorists not needed for information that they should be released and now their concern in many of these that are on the starvation diet many of these i understand just last hope they think they'll never be able to leave guantanamo and that's the reason for their action. and you can find out how the go on top of the hunger strike has been unfolding on our website we've been following it since it first
5:13 am
became public hearing on the why detainees you know was actually based on dark spots as well as showing videos from the facility all that has as but still ahead for you on this channel. as they rush opposition supposed to boy but i'll explain the bottom line combat bottom line can sell a decade behind bars and all he claims is a state chop all the details after the break. the. science technology innovation all the list of elements from around russia we've gone to the huge earth covered. you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so for lengthly you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realized
5:14 am
everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm charged welcome to the big picture. it is easy to its. knees.
5:15 am
you're watching aussies great to have you with us let's move on now security is on high alert in london where the funeral of former prime minister margaret thatcher is currently being held britain's first and only female prime minister who died last week at the age of eighty seven forming a stroke and for more on this let's now talk live with a journalist and broadcaster neil clark neil very nice to have you on the program
5:16 am
hello sir somebody fashion was a hard line and no nonsense politician is that approach all dated in they've days of coalition government which tends to please everyone. i think it is and i think that's at the moment there's this kind of rewriting history going on because mrs touchett has been a lot of these claims that she was the greatest leader we have a how did he start since churchill but the facts don't really bear that out the british economy's going very well in one thousand seventy eight and seventy nine where when she came to power and what she effectively was destroyed our economy she destroyed manufacturing unemployment let up she divided our society inequality grew so i think we got to get it be more honest about this really and i think that a lot of people are saying what we need a stronger leader today but which direction they're going to take is going to such was a strong leader which took us in accepting the wrong direction and we've seen many officials speak out and mourning all factions death while crowds are celebrating out in the streets how come so many years after the end of her career thatcher's
5:17 am
figure still bring such division and masses that well of course it's still dominate today because we're still living in her britain she privatized large swathes of the economy she chronicles and a company for example we've got sky high bills a very high train fares et cetera because of our products i shal policies that she and john major after. so i think she did give of the country still divides the country and we must remember that even her keek no rule than forty percent of the people voted for her so she never got over fifty percent of the vote so even at a peak in the eighty's she was still disliked by a large church so all of the people shone and speaking of the protest celebrations that continued to take place across the nation i will tell what happens to not speaking to the dead then. well i think it is wrong to make personal attacks on people just off the radar as it was you this is a very sad time for her family and friends but i think we've got to distinguish between making first what's actually wrong but with going on are actually what she
5:18 am
gets of britain i think it's fair to actually calling tout that she wasn't a great success that our country was better off in the one nine hundred seventy before she came to know and i think that's fair i want to protest that i'm actually working and i think we ought to distinguish between making sort of personal attacks on people but actually criticising what we actually did which is fair and. i have to say that of course she is a legend here in russia for her policies towards the soviet union and she mannish crises well and was known to say that she finds it exciting to have a real challenge on her hands couldn't britain use such a person right about now what i see we should be could do with a strong leader but he as i said before it depends which direction they go to take a cause which is touchy when people look at her greatest achievement many people say it was the falklands war was recaptured the falklands jet she lost the falklands in the first place that was an era. and so i see yes we could do with a strong leader if you could but cry out full force wrongly to hear it but it has to be in the right direction unfortunately mrs thatcher was
5:19 am
a strong character but of policy who are all. all right if you cut your point cloud journalist and broadcaster live from oxford neil many thanks indeed thanks you all the best. accordion central russia has postponed for a week a trial of top opposition activists an exchange of money he's charged with stealing of a fine hundred thousand dollars worth of timber from a state one company and buys the bike in two thousand and nine. further and anti corruption blogger and says the case against him is politically motivated. or. the court hearing ended just around one hour after starting in the valleys defense appealed to the judge to reschedule saying they didn't have enough time to properly get ready and the judge agreed to reschedule for next week so i could see the wily exit of the courthouse behind the surrounded by a crowd of journalists and supporters in fact we're told that some people have to
5:20 am
count ballots here throughout the night in front of the courthouse to get in since the room inside fits only around sixty people and there's a very heavy media presence and lots of supporters here as well earlier we saw two separate rallies taking place right across the street from one another one well in support of the wily and the other one against them but both were conducted quite peacefully and exceed our lee is a well known and controversial figure in russia first of all he's an opposition blogger who made his name by conducting his online anti corruption project he's also a fierce critic of the kremlin and one of the most influential opposition activists and leaders especially during last year's we call for a mass protest but the controversial side is that it says no wiley's open connection to russian nationalists now about this particular case the authorities are accusing alexian of wildly off organizing a criminal scheme to steal around a half a million dollars worth of timber from
5:21 am
a state company this was back in two thousand and nine when he was the aide to the local governor here in kyoto but his supporters claim that this case is purely political. not to some other news from around a wild and rocket attack has been launched on israel's southernmost town of a lot the missiles were fired from a chips fall a tile sinai region one of three o'clock it's reportedly exploded outside a residential area however the how the no reports of casualties so far southern israel was placed on high alert after a pause on al qaeda cell based in sinai preparing a multiple tower attack. thirty four people have been killed and dozens injured in pakistan following a seven point five magnitude earthquake centered on the country's border with iran the tremors and aftershocks will felt throughout the persian gulf states just over a week ago another earthquake hit southern iran leaving so just seven people dead.
5:22 am
the radical islamist movement is gaining ground in germany with immigrants attempting to apply their traditions and laws to their new home the country's government however is trying to curb this spreading amount of extremist islamic sentiment as reports. germany is cracking down on islamic extremism and the latest move three cell of this organization with the band after it was deemed they wanted to implement sharia law in the heart of europe those behind making the band insist they're not anti islamic just the polling the law we have more than five million muslims living in germany and there's a lot of fruit for cooperation and living together and i think that has to be safeguarded as well as germany's open society and we are able to integrate all people why where is religion or whatever but on the other hand if someone wants to stay in germany he has to fulfill the obligations to keep the laws to accept that
5:23 am
we have special laws fight against terrorism for example and who is keeping these laws has no problems who is not keeping the laws has no right to stay in germany the decision to outlaw these groups coincided with police boiling an assassination attempt on one of radical islam's biggest critics far right party chief markets by saved the nikkei of mount zion i underestimated the danger that's a laugh is just posing there but they were arrested very near my house this brings the situation into a whole new dimension my life has changed now i cannot walk without police protection not even shopping i'm picked up from home dropped off at work we're driving in a bulletproof car this is very difficult to have such a lifestyle just because you engage your politics with and see all. in all four people were arrested with bomb making equipment and loaded weapons found in their possession by six critics say brought this on himself his party incensed members of
5:24 am
germany's islamic community last year after tearing dilatoriness mohammad cartoons of german cities symbols that are deeply offensive to muslims. this is fascination attempt shows that now they are. wanted to shut up with the use of violence in their eyes islamic extremism should not be allowed to question and if you do you end up on a death that it's dangerous and scary development vita salafism is one of germany's fastest growing islamic sects is writing about muslims and it's called invention fishel figures show their numbers are growing by the thousands every year those who fear what they see is the islamification of germany believe the country's previous experience with extremism sees it unwilling to see the risks of dodging of their traffic the problem is that germany's always afraid of the danger from the right because of our past with very sensitive about that as we should be but the danger of islamification is totally underestimated we will not capitulate we will not stop
5:25 am
we will not abandon the path of missiles the banning of groups with links to extremism is the way security services are looking to tackle potentially violent organizations however this leaves the question will it drive extremism underground perhaps making it more difficult to thought future attacks peter all over r.t. germany. and you can go on our website as he dot com to get more comprehensive coverage on all of our stories and much more and here's what's waiting for you there right now. belgian police leave no stone unturned in the sale and was searching for the man who was said to be directly it were cursing volunteers to join terrorist groups in syria. russia joins the international simulated nas colonise asian project in america's midwest go to all the dot com to learn about the back out of this world experience. is on sea and
5:26 am
coming up shortly as our special report about the new gold rush will come along the . victims multiply here each day. it's very profitable to invest in colombia we did very profitable also it is a very high return on investment. to your goal here i said that i've been
5:27 am
working in this area for thirty years and i've always had to be the armed groups that made me better this year the managers of change their name and strategy but they're still the same murderous. high ranking suspects you know coming out are you upset about that mr president the sooner. the president. but. i won't give i'm sorry but no. investigation. says sick stuff keep quiet or else you'll suffer the consequences. to watch themselves because the same goes for them. from. never heard of such a case as ours are so much money. for
5:29 am
exists. to go via in northern colombia. beneath these rusty sheds the country's richest gold mines it's operated by canadian multinational corporation gran colombia gold.
5:30 am
today the army has taken over the sector for a high risk mission. transporting the week's production to a safe location. three gold ingots over twenty kilos each. here we have sixty eight kilos. that makes one point two million euro. in colombia gold is highly coveted by the criminal organizations. so in order to avoid an ambush the time and day of the transfer or decided at the last minute made my escape the this is the most critical moment and on this side and the gold leaves the factory it up got to be transported to the city of midday and it is.
5:31 am
the ingots are carried away at a run. the soldiers mark out the course. the operation is completed in four minutes. the precious cargo takes off towards midday the regional capital from where the gold will be exported. this a go via gold mines are the oldest ones in south america they were own for a long time by an english company frontino gold mines but in two thousand and ten and drawn colombia gold bought the entire concession. thanks to different you know mines the canada based multinational has become colombia's leading gold producer in two thousand and eleven. two and a half tons of yellow metal came out of these furnaces the checks are very strict and everyone is body searched including the boss just things a lot. cna my friend the vice president of gone colombia moreover has
5:32 am
a predestined name who is a over zero zero zero being the spanish word for gold. thanks a lot see you later my friend. who's a or always cuba to label former comrades or fidel castro he made the transition from marxism to capitalism with the greatest of ease. for him colombia is the new eldorado. if it's very profitable to invest in colombia we did very profitable and there's a very high return on investment and a large reserves of natural resources to exploit it all human and what's more the easy resources they want to place that you know the countries by all the food on the lower branches of the tree has been eaten and the any fruit left is at the top . whereas here there's still a lot of fruit left to pick up. but for the time being grown colombia is obliged to share its fruit while officially wholly owns the enormous ago via
5:33 am
deposit illegal mines have sprung up like mushrooms all over its concession. rafael to bone he's a manager oath. and a legal mind that has developed into a small company he and his partners were employed by the former company frontino gold mines bought out by grown colombia they've set up their activity here without authorization. and i guess i'm sad because felt right i couldn't understand it that it everyone works on the front you know well x. frontino they forced us into doing this because they fired us and they threw us out and not only got a lot so we came to find work here. under the virgin mary's protection the miners descend three hundred meters below ground. at the mine bottom air is in short supply. so is the water good. better than my wife.
5:34 am
smiles on their faces but on their backs loads way eighty kilos. six eight ten cents per day. for most slave labor that can be fatal due to cave ins and yet there's no shortage of miners wanting to work here some of them can earn up to two thousand euros a month four times the average salary in colombia. meter after meter the column moves forward gold is embedded everywhere in the rock. miles and miles of these galleries eat away a growing columbia's concession. it seems that is money. that. way all this belongs to the people not to the company. so that you know how we break al back to our pesos. such suffering the illegal thing that isn't even.
5:35 am
inside as on the outside it's the same anger because grown colombia is requesting that these illegal mines be closed down and. it's not right for the long run with the new countries the doors there you know they come with new technologies to steal the riches of the colombian. yes just do it's ours. as that lady says they come to steal what's ours because all of this is ours. this is how we make our living from salvaging rocks. if the illegal mines close down everyone will lose their livelihood the miners but also thousands of women who sort through the rock debris where bits of gold can still be found. it was twenty four years old and i've been working at the mine for ten years now we've got connection if they close down the mine what we do. will be forced to
5:36 am
leave to go via it will we go this is where the money is. the. fifty or so illegal mines such as they'll cho-cho are existing on borrowed time and it's a go via area. and as the price of the yellow metal continues to soar on world markets so gold he is experiencing a new lease on life people are coming out here from all over the country to seek their fortunes. a modern day gold rush in the heart of war played colombia. from the old children mine bianca carries bags of rocks to these antiquated mills. the rock is ground up for hours. to obstruct the gold particles a dangerous product is used mercury. this grey paste is obtained which contains the gold.
5:37 am
you should wear long gloves and even mask that nobody uses any form of protection everyone just ignores the danger. and that's ok that people get older around here their hands start tremble. nervous disorders memory loss the facts of mercury are devastating in the air in the water insecure via mercury is omnipresent it's one of the most contaminated zones in the world. these small scale miners sell their gold. to merchants gold is exchanged for large wads of notes. so here everyone protects their business.
5:38 am
this is to protect myself from thieves have already been held up twice. the mercury evaporates and the heat of the blow torches leaving behind the yellow metal which will be melted down into ingots this is how the gold from the illegal mines provides a livelihood force the gobi is fifty thousand inhabitants. a parallel economy that has a oro had of gone colombia wants to eradicate completely. little by little we're going to regain control we have to do away with all of this but at the same time we have to give the people work opportunities. for his safety posing or all right around in an armored four by four he wants to show us that he's perfectly at ease and to go beyond that he's at home here everywhere even at the barbershop. someone wants to say hello. me
5:39 am
my out of the major ally you have this and let me introduce you to some french journalists a major is the chief of the city police is a very good friend of ours. we have a contract with the police a contract with the army a contract with the city hall. that we also have a school that we finance and. the company finances the police and the army which in exchange ensures that security but the company also uses its dollars to win over the inhabitants its latest project a local radio station. as i do most of you we've been the victim of a very strong demonization campaign you know and we think that's a bit of the radio. we're going to be able to change all that. but they have a good those the sea legs so if anyone wants to try to compete with this sort of influencing the population i'm sorry but at level they're going to lose the main
5:40 am
goal is to make it one of the things that. while waiting to impose its power through the radio the multinational begins by imposing it through force. is just a look at it we've been ordered to close down these lines. and for that one but it's out we can count on the support of the employees of britain colombia which owns the mining rights in this region. the company lends them its premises and is present during the whole operation. first target an illegal tunnel on the outskirts of town. weapons in hand the policeman besieged the mine the situation soon gets heated. up and i'm asking you the question do you have a mining permit. no one has
5:41 am
a permit i applied for one but they never gave it to me. yeah so we're going to start spinning if that's how it is that all of you want us to want to work so we're going to steal and kill or we'll start drug trafficking. and. i think the only civilian amongst the policeman an engineer from dong colombia guides the troops now a list of the mines to be closed down is displayed on his mobile phone screen. to get him up if you want to take advantage of daylight we should continue on right away. ok let's go let's go meaning. but the operation is cut short the policeman fear a clash with the miners they content. in cells with carting away a dozen or so of them back to the police station the police also seize the dynamite used to blast the tunnels. they let you know i am part
5:42 am
of a minor protests he was in the middle of negotiations with kong colombia to legalize his mining operation i mean let's face it as proof he holds out a business card in the name of who is a auro the head of the multinational into go via. a clear image of iraq after a facial. twenty day taxi trip through the country. the roads look dangerous. clear evidence from north to south. the route of iraqi tragedy. after the war waiting for peace. taxi.
5:43 am
the international airport in the very heart of moscow. it appears that jose mourinho is far from having one overs a go via. today may the first the employees are gone colombia are out in the street they're demanding wage increases. small scale miners and local inhabitants are demonstrating alongside them. amidst the crowd one man personifies the revolt of
5:44 am
the entire town. now. what. do you know ruah is president of the gobi a mine workers union today he's the multinationals leading adversary he contest the company's right to operate this a go via mines which up until two thousand and ten belong to different you know company he speaks of theft and i gotta say i mean other by giving the mines of the front you know gold mines company to a multinational they have violated all rights but that it was a stolen patrimony that belongs solely to the workers to the retired workers and to all the people of sago of the out. a speech that he repeat cecily in front of the microphones and film cameras. eyes and said then what do we demand is the most that we demand that once and for all they give us back the front you know mines. it does they are ours. it would seem that the mines belong to the employees
5:45 am
to prove it. takes us to his office he wants to show us a document that he keeps preciously a notarized act dating back to one nine hundred seventy nine. at that time frontino was in dire financial straits and it's english and american owners wanted to leave colombia but they owed years of unpaid wages to their employees so from their head office in new york they decided to bequeath the company and all its mines to them it's all there in black and white. mayor don't document this by way of this document signed in the presence of a notary in new york. it's now known as the new york act. is there it is i mean it's through this that the donation was made to the workers say by way of payment.
5:46 am
the new york act orders the managers or from tino to transfer all the property to the workers and retired workers or to their unions it was authentic aided by the colombian consulate in one thousand nine hundred nine the document was then handed over to the government which was responsible for announcing the good news to the miners get us there what happened then. and then says oh see the trade ministry and minister did that all employment ministry at the time and the colombia consulate in new york on this document secret deal see. for twenty years the workers were unaware that frontino had decreed them the mines the company was run by local managers who got richer and richer wagon after wagon. but in two thousand while searching through the archives of the ministry of economy by pure chance a trade unionist and earth's the new york act from then on the workers are going to do everything in their power to recover frontino. but they have
5:47 am
a dangerous man to contend with a certain carlos mario humanise alias macaco the macaque at the head of a paramilitary group of five thousand man he controls the entire region from the cocaine trafficking to the gold production activities. macaco is a bad time one of the unofficial owners of the frontino minds he operates them illegally by way of front. is that i find all our gold behind all our riches are the economic interests of armed groups like the paramilitaries. paramilitary groups such as macaco as were organized by rich landowners to control the marxist guerrilla group the fox. they terrorized the country for twenty years. often with the backing of the regular army. it since ago via
5:48 am
moreover where they perpetrate one of their first massacres in one nine hundred eighty eight forty three people are killed in the town center their favorite targets the trade unionists and leftist political activists. since that time the trade union leaders such as the euro ruah received death threats on a regular basis for their protection bodyguards permanently accompany them wherever they go. in the early two thousand the trade unionists come up against the paramilitary leader macaco hold over this a go via mines. they see their frontino heritage escape them little by little this territory rich in gold. so they take their case to court and the court rules in their favor. over those go a court and they did mean to get
5:49 am
a court that deals with matters relating to labor disputes rendered its decision at the end of two thousand and six and recognize that the minds of the front two new gold mines company belong exclusively to the workers and retired workers that was the loudest in the face of that city and in two thousand and seven the supreme court of justice confirmed that decision. but strangely enough it's the colombian government that opposes frontino being given to the workers it appeals and manages to overturn all the decisions in favor of the trade unionists and the government at the time is led by president alvaro. he becomes personally involved in the case the frontier no company is overindebted he places it under direct control of the state . i've been seeing down but already. ghaith day the president. was from this region was very preoccupied with
5:50 am
nationality he had managed to resolve the major problems of the country but not those of his own regions. and this was like a thorn in his side for him it's been and for all. but over a rebate has to deal with macaco the local paramilitary leader he names a commission of four experts to advise him on frontino his future according to our investigation three of them have ties with macaco one of them is even his financial advisor role in day media heene businessman so here's a man who at the same time advises both the colombian president and a mafia leader as these documents from the chamber of commerce prove at the time the lindy runs at least two of macaco companies they serve as fronts for laundering money from cocaine trafficking. we make an unannounced visit to these mini offices equipped with a hidden camera linda has never been bothered by the legal authorities he wishes to
5:51 am
remain discreet. but. i won't give an interview i'm sorry but no. person to be on board because of the country's political situation you know work and now that president or e bay is no longer in power. all those who helped him are now being persecuted politically we got a few and we were simply a team of advisors. but the private sector advisors. and we guided the president in his decisions here. but you pneumococcal personally. if he was one of my a long standing customers in the boat tires for. lindy won't tell us anything more he denies this collude. between the mafia and the government which prevents the unionists from recovering frontino that in two thousand and eight president
5:52 am
a rebate is going to become sole game master he manages to eliminate macaco at washington's request he extradite him to the united states together with the other main paramilitary leaders all accused of drug trafficking macaco is sentenced in florida to thirty three years imprisonment but there's still no question of handing over the mines to the workers the rebate looks for a more powerful investor. trentino his fate is sealed in two thousand and ten the government sells the company to a newly set up canada based multinational corporation granted colombia gold in suburbia workers and trade unionists give vent to their anger. and some most recently believe and are almost sure of it that the president already made it as financial interests in this matter. what he wants in fact is to take our minds into. the unionist accuses of our rebate he can't prove that the ex-president has direct interest in the new company but strangely enough the main winners in
5:53 am
this matter or people closely connected to a viral rebate. at the side of the foreign investors at the head of grand columbia we find mario pacheco his first campaign manager. martinez his minister of mines and more importantly occupying the post of chairman and managing director maria consuelo next minister of culture and a close friend of the president delighted to celebrate in two thousand and eleven the company's entry into the toronto stock market is the role such an act of theft is totally unprecedented. you know not only in colombia but in the world. i've never heard of such a case as ours where so much money and gold has been stolen for so many years. for the managers of the multinational the treat unionists claims are without foundation . many people thought that they would obtain this mine de facto
5:54 am
or long through violence and usurpation. but i think that the colombian government made the right choice and that they needed a company that had the technical capacity and experience to operate the miners i mean if you know and if we didn't have any enemies unionists or others i mean i would be very worried. that would mean that our minds aren't worth much to me and. how do you explain the death rates received by the trade unionists not you know no the contrary would be strange you know of year there's nothing unusual about someone receiving a threat. how often have we received threats some people have offered millions were done jose said. i mean if someone receives it right here it's. we don't really want to. the sailor from tino to grand columbia was concluded four months before the end of our rebase mandate.
5:55 am
as a fighter for the people. who have strived for a safer more prosperous and more just country the former president left power in two thousand and ten he tours around the country to defend his track record with long left colombia out. still very popular he loves to mingle with the crowd but hates interviews we made several attempts to question him about from tino in vain he made another attempt during a political meeting in the build a tar region ruth and she go via the workers' union a frontino claim that the company belongs to them and that your government sold it to your friends or you have to say about that mr president as soon. as the president has. no answer but his campaign smile has disappeared we would give us his version of the facts as for the trade
5:56 am
unionists us to go via they continue their combat before the law courts they ask the colombian government for sixteen billion euros in compensation the value of the gold extracted from their minds over these past thirty years. she has your language. make it without any. chance that the consensus can. choose to have any ends that invigorating. choose the stories that impact the life choose the access to your. lud.
5:58 am
her mother. explained the end of the speech. she gave. her her. wish. list all of the lummis good luck. just see the money and. the amount of money bet a little. fifth .
41 Views
Uploaded by TV Archive on
